Presented    to    Princeton    Theological   Seminary 
By  the  $ev.  Wendell  Prime,  t).t>. 

To  be  Kept  Always  as  a  Separate  Collection. 

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THE   PRIME   FAMILY 


NOTES 


GENEALOGICAL,  BIOGRAPHICAL  AND 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL, 


OF 


THE    PRIME    FAMILY 


By  E.  D.  G.  PRIME,  D.D. 


PRINTED  FOR  PRIVATE  USE 

1888 


COPYRIGHT    SECURED. 


PREFATORY. 


THESE  Notes  are  printed,  not  for  publication,  but 
for  more  convenient  preservation  and  reference,  in 
one  branch  of  the  family  to  which  they  relate.  They 
are  dedicated  by  the  compiler  to  the  memory  of  his 
father,  the  Eev.  Nathaniel  Scudder  Prime,  D.D.,  a 
man  of  rare  intellectual  endowments,  an  accomplished 
scholar,  a  faithful  minister  of  the  Gospel,  a  friend  and 
active  promoter  of  popular  and  liberal  education,  a 
fearless  and  uncompromising  advocate  of  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  true  and  right.  He  left  his  impress  upon 
the  generation  in  which  he  lived,  and  especially  upon 
the  hearts  of  his  children ;  one  chief  incentive  in  whose 
lives  has  been  a  desire  to  emulate  his  zeal  in  the  acqui- 
sition and  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge,  and  to  keep  in 
honor  his  name  by  carrying  out  the  principles  and  aims 
which  he  instilled  into  their  minds. 

E.  D.  G.  P. 
New  York, 

January  2,  1888. 


CONTENTS. 


♦ 

Page 

The  Puritan  Exodus 7 

Milford  Plantation 9 

Rev.  Ebenezer  Prime 17 

Benjamin  Y.  Prime,  M.D 37 

Rev.  Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  D.D 49 

Mrs.  Maria  M.  Cumings 71 

Alanson  J.  Prime,  M.D 75 

Rev.  S.  Iren^eus  Prime,  D.D 79 

Rev.  Edward  D.  G.  Prime,  D.D .     91 

Mrs.  Cornelia  P.  Stevenson 97 

G.  Wendell  Prime 99 

William  C.  Prime,  LL.D 101 

James  B.  and  John  P.  Jermain 107 

Prime  Family  Library Ill 


THE  PURITAN  EXODUS. 

THE  earlier  colonies  of  New  England  were  appro- 
priately called  "  Plantations."  The  seed  was  here 
sown  which  for  two  centuries  and  a  half  has  been  bear- 
ing fruit,  not  alone  on  this  continent,  but  the  world 
over.  The  full  harvest  has  not  yet  been  garnered,  and 
will  not  be  until  the  Son  of  Man  shall  send  forth  his 
reapers  at  the  end  of  the  world  to  gather  the  sheaves 
from  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe. 

The  story  of  the  settlement  of  New  England  is  a 
familiar  one.  It  was  the  fruit  of  the  spirit  of  persecu- 
tion that  prevailed  in  Old  England  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries.  That  spirit  was  kept  alive 
during  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. ;  it  burst  into  a  name 
under  "  the  bloody  Mary ; "  it  was  only  partially  sup- 
pressed in  the  days  of  Elizabeth;  it  broke  out  with 
fresh  violence  under  James  I.  During  these  latter 
reigns  many  of  whom  England  and  the  world  were 
not  worthy  were  driven  from  their  native  land  to 
this  Western  wilderness,  to  seek  a  place  where  they 
might  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
own  consciences,  and  the  way  was  preparing  for  the 
greater  exodus  that  took  place  under  Charles  I.  Of 
the  more  than  twenty  thousand  Puritans  who  left  Eng- 


8  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

land  for  America  before  the  opening  of  the  Long  Par- 
liament in  1641,  nineteen-twentieths  emigrated  during 
the  period  in  which  Charles  I.  held  the  royal  sceptre, 
and  Archbishop  Laud  the  torch  of  persecution.  Of 
this  period  the  historian  Bancroft  says:  "The  pillory 
"had  become  the  bloody  scene  of  human  agony  and 
"  mutilation  as  an  ordinary  punishment,  and  the  friends 
"  of  Laud  jested  on  the  sufferings  which  were  to  cure 
"  the  obduracy  of  fanatics.  They  were  provoked  to  the 
"  indiscretion  of  a  complaint,  and  then  involved  in  a  per- 
"  secution.  They  were  imprisoned  and  scourged  ;  their 
"  noses  were  slit ;  their  ears  were  cut  off ;  their  cheeks 
"  were  marked  with  a  red-hot  brand.  But  the  lash  and 
"  the  shears  and  the  glowing  iron  could  not  destroy 
"  principles  which  were  rooted  in  the  soul,  and  which 
"  danger  made  it  glorious  to  confess." 

Alarmed  by  the  departure  of  so  many  whom  it  could 
ill  afford  to  lose,  though  professing  to  despise  their  prin- 
ciples, the  Government  took  active  measures  to  prevent 
the  increasing  emigration.  But  the  tide  continued  to 
flow  out  and  to  set  irresistibly  toward  the  New  World, 
which  was  predestined  as  the  land  of  freedom,  —  religious 
and  civil. 

Among  those  who  left  England  during  this  period 
were  James  and  Mark  Prime,  brothers.  The  latter 
joined  the  colony  which  settled  the  town  of  Piowley, 
Mass.  From  him  was  descended  the  family  distin- 
guished in  the  financial  history  of  New  York  city  in 
connection  with  the  banking-house  of  Prime,  Ward,  and 
King.  James  Prime  joined  the  colony  that  settled 
Milford,  Conn.  To  him  and  to  his  descendants  in  one 
direct  line  the  following  records  will  be  confined. 


MILFORD  PLANTATION. 

MILFOKD  was  one  of  the  six  independent  settle- 
ments which  were  afterward  united  in  what  was 
known  as  the  "  Old  Jurisdiction  of  New  Haven."  The 
colonies  that  formed  this  union  were  New  Haven,  Mil- 
ford,  Guilford,  Branford,  and  Stamford  in  Connecticut, 
and  Southold  on  Long  Island.  The  main  body  of  these 
colonists  arrived  in  detachments  in  1638,  and  made 
New  Haven  their  common  place  of  rendezvous;  but 
they  did  not  unite  in  any  common  government,  nor 
did  the  several  colonies  join  in  any  church  relation. 
The  majority  of  them  remained  at  New  Haven,  waiting 
until  they  should  decide  on  their  respective  locations. 
Either  before  leaving  England,  or  while  on  the  way 
hither,  they  had  chosen  for  settlement  the  tract  of  land 
on  Long  Island  Sound  between  the  Connecticut  Eiver 
and  the  New  York  boundary,  — »  a  region  which  was  still 
inhabited  exclusively  by  Indians ;  but  the  precise  lo- 
cality of  each  colony  had  not  been  selected,  except  in 
the  case  of  New  Haven. 

The  land  eventually  chosen  by  the  Milford  Colony, 
situated  about  ten  miles  west  of  New  Haven,  was 
purchased  of  the  Indians  in  the  winter  of  1638-39. 
The  deed  bears  date  Feb.  12,  1639,  but  the  settlement 


10  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

was  not  begun  until  the  following  summer.  On  the 
22d  of  August,  1639  (the  day  on  which  the  church  of 
New  Haven  was  organized),  the  Milford  church  also 
was  formed  at  the  same  place.  As  soon  as  the  latter 
organization  was  completed,  the  colonists  took  up  the 
line  of  march  through  the  primeval  forest,  following 
an  Indian  trail  by  a  devious  route  to  the  site  of  the 
present  town  of  Milford.  Arriving  at  their  destina- 
tion, they  set  up  their  banner  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
—  a  little  company  in  a  great  wilderness,  but  a  free  and 
independent  people,  owning  no  allegiance,  civil  or  reli- 
gious, save  to  the  King  of  kings,  the  Supreme  Head  of 
the  Church. 

At  the  first  general  meeting  of  the  colonists,  called 
"The  General  Court,"  it  was  voted  "That  they  would 
"  guide  themselves  in  all  their  doings  by  the  rule  of  the 
"  written  Word  of  God  till  such  time  as  a  body  of  laws 
"  should  be  established." 

At  the  same  meeting  it  was  voted  "  That  the  power 
"  of  electing  officers  and  persons  to  divide  the  land  into 
"  lots,  to  take  order  for  the  timber,  and  to  manage  the 
"  common  interests  of  the  Plantation,  should  be  in  the 
"  church  only ;  and  that  the  persons  so  chosen  should 
"be  only  from  among  themselves."  Those  who  were 
thus  exclusively  invested  by  their  church  membership 
with  the  rights  of  citizenship  in  the  colony  were  called 
"  freemen."  The  Indian  name  of  the  place,  Wepowaug, 
was  retained  until  the  meeting  of  the  "  General  Court," 
Nov.  24,  1640,  when  it  was  changed  to  Milford.  The 
earliest  map  of  the  colony  known  to  exist,  bearing  date 
1646,  has,  among  the  names  of  settlers  and  owners  of 
lots  designated,  that  of  James  Prime.     He  arrived  at 


MILFORD  PLANTATION.  11 

Milford  in  1644,  coming,  it  is  believed,  from  near  Don  cas- 
ter, Yorkshire,  England,  and  being  of  Huguenot  descent. 
The  name  was  variously  written  in  England,  —  Prime, 
Pryme,  Preem,  etc.  In  the  early  official  records  of  Mil- 
ford,  James  Prime  is  called  "  Ereeman  "  and  "  Planter." 
He  died  in  1685,  leaving  a  considerable  estate,  a  minute 
inventory  of  which,  including  several  tracts  of  land  in 
and  around  Milford,  personal  property,  household  fur- 
niture, and  farming  implements,  made  out  by  appraisers 
and  sworn  to  before  E.  Treat,  governor,  is  on  record  in 
the  Probate  Court  of  New  Haven  County. 

James  Prime,  of  Milford  Colony,  left  a  son,  James 
Prime,  2d,  who,  according  to  the  family  record,  lived 
to  be  a  hundred  and  three  years  and  some  months  old. 
He  died  at  Milford,  July  18,  1736,  his  wife,  Sarah, 
having  died  Aug.  20,  1721.  He  had  three  sons,  James, 
Joseph,  and  Ebenezer  ;  and  seven  daughters,  Martha, 
Elizabeth,  Sarah,  Eebekah,  Mary,  Deborah,  and  Hannah. 
James  Prime,  2d,  was  a  large  landholder,  as  appears 
from  the  town  records  of  Milford,  which  contain  thirty- 
four  deeds  of  land  executed  by  him  during  the  period 
extending  from  1686  to  1736,  the  year  of  his  death. 
He  was  also  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  the 
township  of  New  Milford,  on  the  Housatonic  Eiver, 
which  was  purchased  in  1702,  and  settled  chiefly  by 
families  from  Milford.  He  does  not  appear  to  have 
resided  at  New  Milford  at  any  time,  but  is  set  down 
in  the  records  among  the  non-residents,  on  whom  a 
special  tax  was  levied  for  the  building  of  the  meeting- 
house and  the  support  of  the  ministry.  James  Prime, 
3d  (son  of  James  Prime,  2d),  purchased  the  "  Eights  " 
of  his  father  at  New  Milford,  became  a  resident  of  that 


12  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

town,  a  deacon  in  the  church,  and  the  progenitor  of  a 
numerous  branch  of  the  family  at  that  place  and  in 
the  township  of  Washington,  which  was  subsequently 
set  off  from  New  Milford  by  State  enactment.1 

The  last  will  and  testament  of  James  Prime,  2d,  of 
Milford,  copied  from  the  Eecords  of  New  Haven  County, 
is  here  given  as  a  specimen  of  the  legal  documents  of 
that  period.  It  does  not  materially  differ  from  the 
forms  that  are  in  use  at  the  present  day,  but  its  per- 
sonal features  are  interesting. 

"LAST  WILL  &   TESTAMENT    OF    JAMES    PRIME, 
OF   MILFORD,    CONN. 

"  In  the  name  of  God  Everlasting,  Amen.  This 
"  23d  day  of  September,  in  the  Sixth  yeare  of  ye 
"  Reigne  of  or  Sovereign  Lord,  George  ye  Second, 
"King  of  Great  Britain,  Anno  Dom.  1732,  J,  James 
"  Prime  of  Milford,  in  ye  County  of  New  Haven,  in 
"  His  Majesty's  Colony  of  Connecticut,  in  New  Eng- 

1  In  some  of  the  New  England  settlements,  after  the  first  meeting- 
houses were  built,  one  of  the  problems  appears  to  have  been  to  seat 
the  people  according  to  rank,  so  that  all  should  be  satisfied.  At  New 
Milford,  for  instance,  Deacon  James  Prime  was  appointed  on  a  com- 
mittee to  gather  timber  for  the  completion  of  the  meeting-house, 
which  had  already  been  occupied  in  an  unfinished  state.  When  it 
was  completed,  the  matter  of  seating  the  congregation  came  up.  It 
was  voted  that  "  Dignity  shall  be  allowed  in  the  business  ;  that  the 
"  highest  seat  is  the  pew  next  to  the  pulpit ;  the  second  is  the  forward 
"seat  in  the  body  of  seats;  the  third  is  the  hinder  pew."  It  was 
then  voted  that  "  All  men  in  this  town  that  bear  lists  shall  be  first 
"  seated  in  four  ranks,  according  to  tax-lists ;  then  all  that  are  16 
"years  of  age  shall  be  seated  according  to  their  age;  the  widows 
"  shall  keep  their  seats ;  Mr.  Samuel  Brown's  wife  shall  keep  her 
"  seat ;  and  Deacon  Prime's  wife  shall  sit  in  the  middle  pew." 


MILFORD  PLANTATION.  13 

"  land,  Being  arrived  to  Old  Age  &  Being  weak  of 
"  Body  but  of  Sound  Mind  &  Memory  (thanks  be 
"given  unto  God  therefore),  calling  unto  mind  the 
"  Mortality  of  my  Body,  &  knowing  it  is  Appointed 
"  for  man  once  to  Dye,  do  Make  &  Ordain  this  my 
"  last  Will  &  Testament;  that  is  to  say:  Principally 
"  &  first  of  all,  J  Give  &  Recommend  my  soul  into 
"ye  Hands  of  God  y*  Gave  it,  &  my  body  J  recom- 
"  mend  unto  ye  Earth  to  be  Buryed  in  decent  &  Chris- 
"  tian  Buryall  by  my  Executors,  &  at  their  Discretion, 
"  nothing  doubting  but  at  the  General  Resurrection 
"  I  shall  Receive  ye  same  again  by  the  Mighty  power 
"  of  God ;  &  as  touching  my  worldly  Goods  & 
"  Estate  wherewith  it  has  pleased  God  to  bless  me,  J 
"  Give,  Devise,  &  Dispose  in  the  following  manner 
"  &  form,  viz. :  — 

"  Impr-.  My  Will  is  that  all  my  just  Debts,  Dues, 
"  &  Demands  yl  may  be  made  upon  my  Estate  &  my 
"  Funerall  charges  be  first  Payd  by  my  Exrs. 

"  Item.  J  Give,  Dispose,  &  Bequeath  to  my  daugh- 
"  ter  Sarah  Plumb  the  sum  of  One  Hundred  Pounds 
"  as  money,  to  her  &  her  heirs  forever,  to  be  paid 
"  out  of  my  Estate  by  my  Executors. 

"  Item.  J  Give,  Dispose,  &  Bequeath  to  my  eldest 
"  daughter  Martha  Prindle  ye  sum  of  One  Hundred 
"  Pounds  as  money,  to  be  paid  to  her  out  of  my 
"  Estate  by  my  Executors. 

"  Item.  J  Give,  Dispose,  &  Bequeath  to  my  daugh- 
ter Rebekah  Clarke,  &  to  her  heirs  forever,  the 
"  sum  of  One  Hundred  Pounds  as  money,  to  be  paid 
"  by  my  Executors  out  of  my  Estate. 

"  Item.     J  Give,  Dispose,  &  Bequeath  to  my  daugh- 


14  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

"  ter  Mary  Ford,  &  to  her  heirs  forever,  the  sum  of 

"  One  Hundred  Pounds  as  money,  to  be  paid  out  of 

"  my  Estate  by  my  Executors. 

"  Item.     J  Give,  Dispose,  &  Bequeath  to  my  daugh- 

"  ter  Deborah  Prime,  &  to  her  heirs  forever,  the  sum 

"  of  One  Hundred  Pounds  as  money,  to  be  paid  out 

"  of  my  Estate  by  my  Executors. 

"  Item.     J   Give  &   Bequeath   unto   my  daughter 

"  Hannah  Prime,  &  to  her  heirs  forever,  the  sum  of 

"  One  Hundred  Pounds  as  money,  to  be  paid  out  of 

"  my  Estate  by  my  Executors. 

"  Item.     My  Will  is  if  either  of  my  daughters  yt 

"  are  not  yet  married  shall  dye  before  Marriage  & 
"  without  ifsue,  ye  sd  Legacy  given  to  ye  daughter  y* 
"  shall  lodge  shall  be  Equally  Divided  by  the  Sur- 
viving Children. 

"  Item.  J  Give,  Dispose,  &  Bequeath  to  my  three 
"  sons,  James  Prime,  Joseph  Prime,  &  Ebenezer  Prime, 
"  all  the  rest  &  remainder  of  my  Goods  &  Estate, 
"  both  Reall  &  Personall  whatsoever,  y*  is  not  before 
"  Given  &  Disposed  of  by  me,  to  them  &  their  heirs 
"  &  assignes  forever,  Equally  to  be  divided,  that  is  to 
"  say,  to  each  of  them  ye  sd  James,  Joseph,  &  Eben- 
"  ezer,  one  third  part  thereof,  to  them,  their  heirs  & 
"  assignes  forever. 

"  Item.  My  Will  is,  &  J  do  hereby  Constitute  & 
"  Nominate  &  Appoint  my  three  sons,  James  Prime, 
"Joseph  Prime,  &  Ebenezer  Prime,  to  be  the  only 
"  &  sole  Executors  of  this  my  last  Will  &  Testament, 
"  &  J  do  hereby  dysanyull,  revoke,  &  make  void  all 
"  other  Testaments,  Wills,  Legacys,  Bequests  Exe- 
"  cuted  by  me  anyways  before  made,  namd,  willd,  & 


MILFORD  PLANTATION.  15 

"  bequeathe!.  Ratefying  &  Confirming  of  this  to  be 
"  my  last  Will  &  Testament,  J  have  hereunto  sett  my 
"hand  &  affixd  my  seal  ye  day  &  date  first  above 
"  written. 

"  James  Prime,  his 


"  Signed,  Sealed,  Published,  &  decd  by  James  Prime 
"  as  his  last  Will  &  Testament,  in  ye  Presence  of  John 
"  Fowler,  Ephraim  Strong,  John  Gand. 

"  Proved,  Milford,  Sept.  6th,  1736." 


REV.   EBENEZER   PRIME. 

EBENEZEE  PEIME,  third  son  of  James  Prime,  2d, 
and  Sarah  his  wife,  was  born  at  Milford,  Conn., 
July  21, 1700.  He  pursued  his  studies  under  the  direc- 
tion of  his  pastor,  the  Eev.  Samuel  Andrew,  who  was 
then  acting-president  of  what  afterward  was  known 
as  Yale  College.  At  the  beginning  of  the  last  century 
there  were  only  two  collegiate  institutions  in  the  coun- 
try, — Harvard  in  Massachusetts,  and  William  and  Mary 
in  Virginia.  In  1701  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut 
chartered  a  collegiate  school,  which  in  the  early  diplo- 
mas was  styled  Gymnasium  Academicum.  It  was  nom- 
inally located  at  Saybrook,  but  for  many  years  it  waited 
on  the  convenience  of  its  presiding  officer.  On  the 
death  of  the  first  "  rector,"  the  Eev.  Abraham  Pierson,  of 
Killingworth,  in  1707,  the  Eev.  Samuel  Andrew,  pastor 
at  Milford,  was  chosen  " rector  pro  tempore"  and  con- 
tinued to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  position  until  the 
college  was  permanently  located  at  New  Haven  in  1716.1 

1  Rev.  Samuel  Andrew  (pronounced  "  one  of  the  best  scholars  of 
his  time")  was  fifty-two  years  pastor  at  Milford.  He  was  born  at 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  Jan.  29,  1656,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  1675.  He  was  one  of  the  projectors  and  founders  of  Yale 
College,  was  a  trustee  from  the  date  of  its  charter  until  his  death, 
thirty-six  years,  and  rector,  or  president,  pro  tempore  nine  years.     He 

2 


18  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

The  senior  class  was  under  his  immediate  instruction 
at  Milford,  the  lower  classes  being  under  tutors  at 
Saybrook. 

Ebenezer  Prime  was  graduated  in  1718,1  when  the  first 
college  building  was  completed  at  New  Haven  and  in- 
augurated in  time  for  holding  the  Commencement  ex- 
ercises  within  its  walls.  A  history  of  the  College  says, 
"  This  Commencement  was  a  memorable  occasion,  and 
"  was  celebrated  in  a  style  which  far  surpassed  anything 
"  known  before  in  the  history  of  the  College."  The  name 
"Yale"  was  given  to  the  new  building  in  honor  of  the 
benefactor  of  the  College,  Governor  Elihu  Yale  ;  it  was 
not  adopted  as  the  corporate  title  of  the  institution 
until  the  year  1745,  when  a  new  charter  was  obtained 
from  the  Legislature. 

After  his  graduation  Mr.  Prime  began  the  study 
of  divinity,  —  probably  under  his  pastor,  Mr.  Andrew. 
In  1719,  before  he  had  completed  his  eighteenth  year, 
he  received  an  invitation  from  Huntington,  Long 
Island,  to  become  an  assistant  to  the  Kev.  Eliphalet 
Jones,  who  was  for  nearly  sixty  years  pastor  of  the 
church  at  that  place.  He  accepted  the  invitation, 
and  preached  his  first  sermon  at  Huntington,  June 
21,  1719.  After  serving  as  assistant-minister  four 
years,  he  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor,  June  5, 
1723. 

The  following  records  were  made  in  the  session-book 

was  one  of  the  ministers  who,  by  order  of  the  General  Court  of  Con- 
necticut, met  in  synod  at  Saybrook  in  1708  and  adopted  the  manual 
of  doctrine  and  discipline  known  as  "The  Saybrook  Platform."  He 
died  at  Milford,  Jan.  24,  1737-8,  aged  eighty-two. 

1  Ebenezer  Prime  was  two  years  in  college  with  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards, who  was  three  years  his  junior  in  age,  and  two  in  graduation. 


REV.  EBENEZER  PRIME.  19 

of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Huntington  by  the  hand 
of  the  Eev.  Ebenezer  Prime  :  — 

"  My  ordination  to  the  Sacred  Service  of  ye  gospel 
"ministry  in  Huntington  was  attended  on  June  5,  1723. 
"  The  Reverend  Presbyters  that  carried  on  ye  solem- 
"  nity  were : 

"  Mr-  Eliphalet  Jones,  Huntington; 

"  Mr-  Joseph  Webb,  Fairfield ; 

"  M-  Ebenezer  White,  Bridgehampton ; 

"  M'  Stephen  Buckingham,  Norwalk ; 

"  M-  Samuel  Chapman,  Greensfarm ; 

"  M-  Benjamin  Woolsey,  Southold. 

"  The  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Chap- 
"  man,  &  the  charge  was  given  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jones 
"  in  the  following  words :  " 

Here  follows  the  charge,  copied  in  full. 

"  Recognitio  Mortis  Parentum  tempore  elapso. 

"  On  ye  20  of  August,  1721,  Sarah  Prime,  my  ten- 
"  der  &  godly  mother,  departed  this  life  at  Milford. 

"  In  the  same  town  dyed  mine  aged  father  on  ye 
"  18th  of  Iuly,  1736.  Lam.  3,  19:  Remembering  mine 
"affliction  &  my  misery,  ye  wormwood  &  ye  gall; 
"  (v.  20)  my  soul  hath  them  still  in  remembrance,  &  is 
"humbled  in  me. 

"  The  clouds  return  after  the  rain ;  &  I  have  rea- 
"  son  with  deep  humiliation  to  say  to  my  God,  at  Job, 
"  ch.  10,  17:  Thou  renewest  thy  witnesses  against  me, 
"&  increasest  thine  indignation  upon  me;  changes 
"  &  war  are  against  me,  For, 


20  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

"  On  October  3-,  1736,  after  a  short  but  violent  111— 
"  ness,  dyed  at  Huntington,  of  the  throat  distemper, 
"  my  dear  Sister  Hannah  Prime. 

"Job  17:  14:  I  have  said  to  corruption,  thou  art 
"  my  father,  to  the  worm,  thou  art  my  mother  &  my 
"  sister. 

"  Ebenezer  Prime  &  Margaret  Sylvester  were  mar- 
"ried  at  Shelter-Island  Oct.  2^,  1723,  by  ye  Rev.  Mr- 
"  Benjamin  Woolsey,  of  Southold. 

"  Ebenezer,  Son  of  Ebenezer  Prime  &  Margaret 
"  his  wife,  was  born  at  Huntington,  July  ye  11-,  1724, 
"  between  one  &  two  post  meridiem,  it  being  Satur- 
"  day,  &  baptized  July  ye  12th  anno  eodem. 

"  Margaret,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Prime  &  Mar- 
"  garet  his  wife,  was  born  at  Huntington  on  Saturday 
"  morning  about  two  or  three  of  ye  clock,  it  being 
"Aprilye9-,  1726.     Baptized  the  day  following. 

"  Horresco  Refer  ens. 
"  On  the  26th  day  of  Sept.,  1726,  between  twelve  & 
"  one  post  meridiem,  Margaret,  wife  of  Ebenezer  Prime, 
"  ye  Beloved  wife  of  his  Youth,  departed  this  life  in 
"  Huntington,  having  lived  in  a  married  state  three 
"  years  wanting  six  days. 


"  Ebenezer  Prime  &  Experience  Youngs  were  mar- 
"  ried  at  Southold,  November  ye  12th,  1730,  by  ye 
"  Rev.  M^  Benjn  Woolsey,  of  Southold. 

"  Mary  Prime,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Prime  &  Ex- 
"  perience  his  wife,  was  born  at  Huntington,  Sep*  ye 
"  12th,  1731,  at  about  12  o'clock  in  ye  morning,  &  bap- 
"  tized  Sept.  ye  19th  anno  eodem. 


REV.  EBENEZER    PRIME.  21 

"  Sarah  Prime,  Daughter  of  Ebenezer  Prime  & 
"  Experience  his  wife,  was  born  at  Huntington,  Sept. 
"  ye  15th,  1732,  on  Friday,  about  eight  o'clock  in  ye 
"  morning,  &  baptized  ye  Lord's  day  following,  Sept. 
"  17th  ; 

"  And  dyed,  Precious  Babe  !  December  12th,  1732, 
"  aged  three  months,  wanting  three  days. 

"  God  is  righteous  in  all  his  ways  &  holy  in  all  his 
works.     Rom.  v:  13,  14. 

"  Benjamin  Youngs  Prime,  son  of  Ebenezer  Prime 
"  &  Experience  his  wife,  was  born  December  ye  9th, 
"  1733,  at  about  8  or  9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  it  being 
"  the  Lord's  day,  &  was  baptized  in  the  afternoon 
"  of  the  same. 

"Breach  upon  breach!  Job  16:  14.  On  ye  first 
"  day  of  January,  1733-4,  dyed  at  Huntington,  in  child- 
"  bed,  Experience  Prime,  the  second  wife  of  Ebenezer 
"  Prime,  in  the  35th  year  of  her  age;  being  born  at 
"  Southold,  Novembr  ye  6th,  1699,  &  having  lived  in 
"  a  married  state  three  years,  one  month,  &  nineteen 
"  days.     Job  10:  12. 

"  Gen.  11  :  28 :  And  Haran  died  before  his  father 
"  in  the  land  of  his  nativity.  But  when  the  order  of 
"  nature  is  inverted,  the  appointment  of  God  takes 
"  place  &  is  executed.     Heb.  ix:  27. 

"Wednesday  morning,  Octobr  20,  1742,  between 
u  one  &  two,  my  dear  Son  Ebenezer  Prime  departed 
"  this  life,  aged  18  years,  3  months,  &  9  days.  And 
"  I  trust  is  now  triumphing  with  Christ  in  glory.1    With 

1  Ebenezer  Prime,  Jr.,  whose  death  is  here  recorded,  was  a  student 
in  Yale  College.  While  in  his  junior  year,  and  spending  a  vacation 
at  his  home  in  Huntington,  he  was  taken  ill  with  a  fever.     He  had 


22  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

"  low  submission,  O  God !  enable  me  to  bow  to  thy 
"  D.  sovereignty,  for  Jesus'  sake.    Amen. 

"January  19th,  1749-50.  Alas!  Alas!  I  have  rea- 
"  son  to  mourn  bitterly  &  to  be  deeply  humbled 
"  before  the  Lord ;  For  on  this  day,  between  eleven 
"  &  twelve,  departed  this  life  my  dear  daughter 
"  Margaret  Brown,  in  Huntington,  wife  to  the  Rev. 
"  Mr.  James  Brown,  of  Bridgehampton,  agtd  23 
"years  9  months  &  10  days. 

"  The  only  branch  of  my  family  by  my  first  mar- 
"  riage  is  now  taken  away.  But  blessed  be  God  for 
"  the  abundant  reason  I  have  to  hope  that  she  is  now 
"  triumphing  with  Christ  in  glory,  whither  I  trust  her 
"  dear  brother  ascended  more  than  three  years  ago. 

"  But,  Alas !  Alas !  I  am  here  in  a  world  of  sin  & 
"  sorrow.  The  root  is  waxed  old  &  dried  up  in  the 
"  earth,  &  both  the  sprigs  are  cut  off  as  with  a  prun- 
"  ing  hook,  so  that  I  am  as  a  poor  old  tree  bereaved 
"  of  these  precious  branches.  Yet  I  desire  to  bless 
"  God  &  to  say,  as  in  Job  1:21. 

given  evidence  of  sincere  piety,  and  had  been  admitted  to  the  com- 
munion of  the  church.  When  informed  that  his  end  was  near,  after 
addressing  a  few  affectionate  and  earnest  words  of  exhortation  to 
his  younger  brother,  he  exclaimed  :  "  My  flesh  and  my  heart  faileth, 
but  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart,  and  my  portion  forever ;  "  and 
immediately  passed  away.  Most  affectionate  allusions  to  his  early 
death  and  his  lovely  Christian  character  are  made  in  the  diaries  both 
of  his  father  and  his  brother.  The  following  inscription  was  placed 
upon  his  tombstone :  — 

"  Here  lies  a  youth,  adult  in  virtue  grown, 
In  whom  the  beams  of  heavenly  knowledge  shone ; 
His  early  zeal,  the  consequence  of  faith, 
Denotes  him  bless'd  in  his  lamented  death ; 
Too  good  to  live,  he  quits  this  earthly  stage 
T'enjoy  the  bliss  of  an  eternal  age." 


EEV.  EBENEZER  PRIME.  23 

"  Ebenezer  Prime  &  Hannah  Carll  were  married  at 
"  Huntington,  March  ye  nth,  175 1/2  0.  S.,  by  ye  Rev. 
"  Mr  Naphtali  Dagget. 

"  Dec.  ye  10th,  1756.  This  day  departed  this  life 
"  my  dear  &  only  daughter,  Mary,  the  wife  of  Jer. 
"  Wood,  aged  25  years,  2  months,  &  19  days,  having 
"  lived  in  a  married  state  3  years,  3  months,  &  24 
"  days.     Left  two  motherless,  a  son  &  daughter. 

"  A  bitter  day  !  a  bitter  dispensation  !  But  Oh  how 
"  much  more  bitter  is  Sin  !  my  sins  !  Yet  blessed  be 
"  God,  I  do  not  mourn  altogether  without  hope. 

"  On  Fryday  morning,  about  6  o'clock,  February  ye 
"  9th,  1776,  my  third  loving  wife  departed  this  life, 
"  having  completed  the  70th  year  of  her  age." 

End  of  records  by  Ebenezer  Prime. 


Ebenezer  Prime,  as  appears  from  the  foregoing  records, 
was  three  times  married. 

First  Marriage :  Oct.  2,  1723,  to  Margaret  Sylves- 
ter, of  Shelter  Island,  by  whom  he  had  two  children ; 
namely,  — 

Ebenezer,  born  July  11,  1724,  died  at  Huntington, 
Oct.  20,  1742  ; 

Margaret,  born  April  9, 1726,  married  Dec.  14, 1749, 
to  Rev.  James  Brown,  of  Bridgehampton,  died  Jan.  19, 
1750; 

Margaret  Sylvester,  wife  of  Rev.  Ebenezer  Prime, 
died  Sept.  26,  1726. 

Second  Marriage :  Nov.  12,  1730,  to  Experience 
Youngs,  of  Southold,  Long  Island,  who  was  born  Nov. 
6, 1699.    She  was  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Youngs,  and 


24  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

granddaughter  of  the  Eev.  John  Youngs,  first  minister 
of  Southold,  who  came  from  Hingham,  Norfolk,  Eng- 
land, in  1640,  with  his  church,  to  New  Haven,  Conn., 
where  his  church  was  reorganized,  and  whence  pastor 
and  people  together  went  to  Southold.  The  sister  of 
Experience  Youngs  was  the  mother  of  John  Ledyard, 
the  celebrated  traveller,  who  accompanied  Captain  Cook 
on  his  third  voyage  around  the  world. 

The  children  of  Ebenezer  and  Experience  Youngs 
Prime  were: 

1.  Mary,  born  Sept.  12,  1731,  who  was  married  to 
Israel  Wood,  of  Huntington,  Long  Island,  Aug.  16, 
1753,  and  died  Dec.  10,  1756. 

2.  Sarah,  born  Sept.  15,  1732,  and  died  December  12 
the  same  year. 

3.  Benjamin  Youngs,  born  Dec.  20,  1733,  o.  s.  His 
mother,  Experience  Youngs  Prime,  died  Jan.  1,  1734, 
leaving  him  an  infant  three  weeks  old. 

Benjamin  Youngs  Prime  survived  all  his  immediate 
kindred.  By  him  alone  in  this  particular  line  of  the 
family  the  name  of  Prime  was  perpetuated.  On  coin- 
ing of  age  he  dropped  the  final  letter  of  his  middle 
name,  being  known  thereafter  as  Benjamin  Young 
Prime. 

TJiird  Marriage:  March  11,  1751,  0.  s.,  to  Hannah 
Carll,  widow,  who  died  Feb.  9,  1776. 

A  parchment-bound  volume,  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
writer,  contains  a  Diary  by  Mr.  Prime,  commenced  when 
he  entered  upon  his  ministry  at  Huntington,  and  ex- 
tending to  the  year  1764,  —  a  period  of  forty-five  years. 
It  is  entitled  Miscellanea  Qu^edam,  Aut  Ephemems 


REV.  EBENEZER  PRIME.  25 

Meditationum  Divinarum,  Usui  Peivato,  E.  P.  De- 
lineata,  etc.  The  first  entry  possesses  historic  as  well 
as  personal  interest.  It  is  a  copy  of  the  original  Church 
Covenant  adopted  by  the  Milford  Church  on  its  organi- 
zation at  New  Haven,  Aug.  22,  1639  :  — 

"  A  copy  of  Milford  Church  Covenant,  unto  which 

"  I  confented  &  into  which  I  entred  with  the  Lord 

"&  with  ye  members  of  Xts  Church  at  Milford,  when 

"  I  was  made  a  member  in  full  communion  wth  the 

"  church  abovefd. 

"  Anno  Domini,  1719. 

"  Since  it  hath  pleased  ye  Lord  of  his  infinite  good- 
"  nefs  &  free  grace  to  Call  us,  a  company  of  poor 
"  miferable  wretches,  out  of  the  world  unto  fellowlhip 
"  with  himfelf  in  Jesus  X,  &  to  bestow  himfelf  upon 
"  us  by  an  Everlasting  Covenant  of  his  free  grace, 
"  sealed  in  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  our  God,  & 
"  to  make  &  avouch  us  to  be  his  people,  &  hath  un- 
"  dertaken  to  circumcize  our  hearts,  yl  we  may  love 
"  ye  Lord  Our  God  &  fear  him  &  walk  in  his  ways, 
"  wee  Therefore  do  this  day  avouch  ye  Lord  to  be  Our 
"  God,  Even  Jehovah  the  only  true  God,  the  Almighty 
"  maker  of  heaven  &  earth,  the  God  &  father  of  Our 
"  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  &  we  do  this  day  Enter  Into  an 
"  holy  Covenant  with  ye  Lord  &  one  with  another 
"thro'  ye  Grace  &  help  of  Christ  Strengthening  us 
"  (without  wm  we  can  do  nothing)  to  deny  our  Selves  & 
"  all  ungodliness  &  worldly  Lusts,  &  all  Corruptions 
"  &  pollutions  wherein  in  any  Sort  we  have  walked : 
"&  do  give  up  ourfelves  wholly  to  ye  Lord  Jesus 
"  Christ  to  be  taught  &  governed  by  him  in  all  our 


26  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

"  Relations,  Conditions,  &  Conversations  in  this  world, 
"  avouching  him  to  be  our  only  prophet  &  teacher, 
"  our  only  prieft  &  propitiation,  our  only  king  &  law- 
"  giver :  and  we  further  bind  ourfelves  in  his  strength 
"  to  wralk  before  him  in  all  proffefsed  subjection  to  all 
"  his  holy  ordinances  according  to  the  Rules  of  the 
"  Gospel,  &  alfo  to  walk  together  with  this  church  & 
"  the  members  thereof  in  all  brotherly  love  &  holy 
"  watchfulnefs  to  ye  mutual  building  up  one  another 
"  in  faith  &  Love ;  all  which  ye  Lord  help  us  to  per- 
"  form  through  his  Rich  Grace  in  Christ  according  to 
"  this  Covenant. 

"  Amen. 
"Subfc:  by  =  E.  Prime." 

Soon  after  taking  charge  of  the  church  at  Hunting- 
ton, the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Prime  purchased  a  farm  with  a 
residence  near  the  church,  which  remained  in  the  pos- 
session and  occupancy  of  himself  and  his  direct  descen- 
dants of  the  name  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  years. 
Here  he  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of  his  flock, 
to  preparation  for  his  pulpit  services,  and  to  general 
study ;  enjoying  the  affection  and  commanding  the  re- 
spect of  all  whom  he  reached  with  his  influence.  He  is 
described  by  one  of  his  contemporaries  as  "  a  man  of 
"  sterling  character,  of  powerful  intellect,  wdio  possessed 
"  the  reputation  of  an  able  and  faithful  divine."  Culti- 
vating, from  the  commencement  of  his  ministry,  a  taste 
for  learning,  he  early  began  the  collection  of  what 
became,  for  that  period,  a  large  and  valuable  library, 
chiefly  imported  from  England,  and  including  choice 
editions  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics ;  many  of  his 
theological  works  being  London  editions  in  large  folio. 


REV.  EBENEZER  PRIME.  27 

A  portion  of  his  own  and  of  his  son's  library  which 
escaped  the  vandalism  of  the  British  soldiers  in  the 
lievolutionary  War  was  subsequently  destroyed  by  fire, 
but  a  few  of  the  volumes  still  remain,  distributed  among 
their  descendants.  Of  these  are  Pool's  "  Synopsis  Criti- 
"  corum,"  Latin,  large  folio  ;  Matthew  Henry's  Commen- 
tary, 6  vols,  folio;  Bishop  Burnet's  "History  of  the 
"English  Preformation,"  3  vols,  folio;  Florio's  transla- 
tion of  Montaigne's  Essays,  quarto ;  an  Aldine  edition 
of  Martial,  etc. 

Mr.  Prime  kept  a  register  of  his  sermons,  with  the 
texts,  dates,  and  places  of  their  delivery ;  from  which  it 
appears  that  he  prepared  more  than  three  thousand. 
This  register,  and  also  a  large  number  of  the  discourses, 
are  still  preserved.  They  are  written  in  a  clear  hand, 
and  give  evidence  of  careful  study  and  preparation. 
Some  of  his  discourses  on  special  occasions  were  printed 
and  are  to  be  found  in  collections  of  American  publica- 
tions of  the  last  century.  Two  of  these  were  on  "  The 
"  Divine  Institution  of  Preaching  the  Gospel,"  and  on 
"Ordination  to  the  Gospel  Ministry."  He  held  some 
peculiar  views  in  regard  to  the  gospel  commission, 
maintaining  that  authority  to  preach  the  gospel  could 
be  conferred  only  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
Presbytery,  as  in  the  case  of  ordination  to  the  full 
work  of  the  ministry.1 

1  In  a  note  to  one  of  his  printed  sermons  on  ordination,  Mr. 
Prime  says  :  — 

"  The  Licensing  of  Candidates  to  preach  without  Ordination  having 
"  obtained  as  a  custom  long  before  I  had  a  being,  upon  my  entering 
"  into  the  Ministry  I  came  into  &  continued  in  it  for  many  years,  as 
"  there  was  Occasion,  without  my  particular  Examination  of  the  Point 
"  'Till  for  some  Years  past,  my  Mind  being  filled  with  Hesitations  & 


28  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

Mr.  Prime  was  by  birth  and  education  a  Congrega- 
tionalist ;  and  the  church  of  which  he  was  pastor  —  in 
common  with  the  other  churches  on  the  island,  of  Puri- 
tan origin — was  Independent.  But  early  in  his  minis- 
try he  became  convinced  that  the  Presbyterian  form  of 
government  was  better  adapted  for  promoting  order 
and  discipline  in  the  church. 

Several  neighboring  pastors  who  were  of  the  same 
mind  resolved  to  hold  a  meeting  for  conference  and 
prayer  on  the  subject.  Accordingly,  as  the  record  states, 
"A  number  of  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  within  the 
"  County  of  Suffolk,  on  the  Island  of  Nassau,  in  the  Pro- 
"  vince  of  New  York,  convened  at  Southampton,  April 
"the  8th,  1747,  in  order  to  concert  measures  for  the 
"  promotion  of  the  great  Eedeemer's  kingdom,  especially 
"within  the  above-mentioned  bounds ;  and  having  taken 
"  into  consideration  the  broken  state  of  the  churches  of 
"  Christ  within  said  County,  the  prevalence  of  separations 
"  and  divisions,  together  with  the  growing  mischiefs  these 
"  disorders  are  big  with ;  after  repeated  addresses  at  the 
"  throne  of  grace  for  divine  direction,"  —  they  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  disorders  spoken  of  were  owing  to 
"  the  want  of  stated  rules  of  ecclesiastical  government." 
Accordingly,  they  voted  to  organize  themselves  into  a 
Presbytery,  to  be  called  "the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk," 
and  adopted  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  Cate- 

"  Doubts  put  me  upon  a  more  critical  Inquiry  into  the  Orders  of 
"  Christ's  House ;  &  finding  that  as  all  ministerial  Power  is  derived 
"  from  Christ  to  the  ordinary  Ministers  of  the  Gospel,  by  the  grand 
"  Commission,  Mat.  XXVIII.,  &  that  they,  according  to  divine  Institu- 
"  tion,  are  invested  with  those  Powers  by  Ordination,  so  Preaching  the 
"  Gospel  being  one  principal  Branch  of  their  Work,  none  consequent- 
"  ly  have  a  right  to  preach  the  Gospel  but  those  that  are  ordain'd." 


REV.  EBENEZER  PRIME.  29 

chisms,  Directory  for  Worship  and  Discipline.  The 
Eev.  Ebenezer  Prime  was  chosen  the  first  moderator, 
and,  with  the  Eev.  Samuel  Buel,  of  Easthampton,  was 
appointed  to  attend  the  Synod  of  New  York  to  request 
that  the  Presbytery  might  be  received  into  that  body. 
The  request  was  granted,  and  the  Congregational 
churches  on  Long  Island  generally  became  connected 
with  the  Presbytery.  Almost  from  the  time  of  their 
organization  these  churches,  together  with  many  of 
those  of  the  same  order  in  Connecticut,  were  quite 
commonly  called  Presbyterian.1 

In  the  early  part  of  the  French  and  Indian  War 
(1756-63),  which  ended  with  the  conquest  of  Canada 


1  The  following  Declaration  was  made,  in  1799,  by  the  Hartford 
North  Association  of  Ministers,  composed  of  such  men  as  Drs.  Strong 
and  Flint  of  Hartford,  and  Dr.  Perkins  of  West  Hartford :  — 

"  This  Association  gives  information  to  all  whom  it  may  concern, 
"  that  the  constitution  of  the  churches  in  the  State  of  Connecticut, 
"founded  on  the  common  usages  and  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Heads 
"  of  Agreement,  and  Articles  of  Church  Discipline,  adopted  at  the 
"  earliest  period  of  the  settlement  of  the  State,  is  not  Congregational, 
"but  contains  the  essentials  of  the  government  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
"  land,  or  [the]  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  particularly  as  it  gives 
"a  decisive  power  to  ecclesiastical  councils  ;  and  a  Consociation,  con- 
"  sisting  of  ministers  and  messengers,  or  a  lay  representation  from  the 
"churches,  is  possessed  of  substantially  the  same  authority  as  Presby- 
"  tery.  The  churches,  therefore,  in  Connecticut  at  large,  and  in  our 
"  district  in  particular,  are  not  now,  and  never  were,  from  the  earliest 
"period of  our  settlement,  Congregational  Churches,  according  to  the 
"ideas  and  forms  of  church  order  contained  in  the  Book  of  Discipline 
"  called  the  Cambridge  Platform.  There  are,  however,  scattered  over 
"the  State,  perhaps  ten  or  twelve  churches  (unconsociated)  which  are 
"properly  called  Congregational,  agreeably  to  the  rules  of  church 
"discipline  in  the  book  above  mentioned.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the  As- 
"  sociated  Churches  of  Connecticut  are  loosely  and  vaguely,  though 
"improperly,  termed  Congregational."  (See  Gillett's  "History  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,"  i.  438,  439.) 


30  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

by  the  English,  a  regiment  of  Provincials  was  raised  in 
Suffolk  County  to  join  the  expedition  against  Quebec. 
They  assembled  at  Huntington,  May  7,  1759,  and  Mr. 
Prime  was  invited  to  preach  to  them,  which  he  did 
from  the  text,  Judges  iv.  14 :  "  And  Deborah  said  unto 
"  Barak,  Up ;  for  this  is  the  day  in  which  the  Lord  hath 
"  delivered  Sisera  into  thine  hand :  is  not  the  Lord  gone 
"  out  before  thee  ? "  The  discourse  was  printed,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  request  of  the  "  Soldiers,  Inhabitants, 
"and  Strangers  that  were  hearers."  A  printed  copy, 
and  also  the  original  manuscript,  are  preserved  among 
the  family  papers. 

The  long-extended  ministry  of  Mr.  Prime  at  Hun- 
tington was  greatly  blessed  in  promoting  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  people,  and  at  different  periods  in  large 
additions  to  the  church.  In  common  with  many  others 
on  the  Island,  this  congregation  was  specially  visited  in 
"The  Great  Awakening"  of  1740-41.  In  his  private 
diary  Mr.  Prime  makes  repeated  mention  of  the  scenes 
that  accompanied  this  remarkable  religious  movement. 
As  showing  the  prevailing  influence,  he  mentions  that 
on  one  occasion,  when  the  people  were  gathered  together 
at  a  "  military  training  "  (usually  a  scene  of  a  very  differ- 
ent character),  he  was  requested  to  preach  to  the  assem- 
bled multitude,  and  adds :  "  At  this  meeting  the  main 
"  part  of  the  congregation  were  in  tears,  and  several  were 
"  brought  under  strong  convictions."  A  few  days  later 
he  writes  :  "  Preached  on  John  vii.  37.  Great  numbers 
"  cried  out  in  distress ;  the  power  of  God  was  marvel- 
"lous."  At  a  much  later  period  (Sept.  2,  1764),  when 
he  was  assisted  at  a  communion  season  by  his  friend, 
the  Eev.  Dr.  Buel,  of  Easthampton,  he  writes :  "  God 


REV.  EBENEZER  PRIME.  31 

"has  poured  out  his  Spirit  in  a  surprising  manner 
"  upon  this  people.     Glory  be  to  his  name  ! " 

In  the  War  of  the  Bevolution,  immediately  after  the 
battle  of  Long  Island,  which  was  fought  Aug.  27, 1776, 
the  British  took  possession  of  the  whole  Island  and  held 
it  until  the  conclusion  of  the  war.  It  was  extensively 
ravaged  again  and  again,  and  those  who  favored  the 
cause  of  the  Colonies  were  made  the  victims  of  British 
and  Tory  vengeance.  The  property  of  the  inhabitants 
was  rudely  confiscated  or  wantonly  destroyed.  Those 
who  had  been  at  all  conspicuous  by  their  patriotism 
were  compelled  to  flee  to  the  mainland,  or  were  treated 
with  personal  severity.  The  churches  and  congrega- 
tions were  in  many  cases  broken  up,  and  for  seven 
years  an  almost  chaotic  state  of  things  existed. 

There  was  one  conspicuous  example  of  a  pastor  who 
was  allowed  to  minister  to  those  of  his  flock  who  re- 
mained in  their  homes  and  on  their  farms.  The  Eev. 
Samuel  Buel,  D.D.,  who  has  just  been  mentioned,  was 
the  third  pastor  in  succession  at  Easthampton  whose 
ministry  in  that  church  extended  over  half  a  century. 
He  was  a  man  of  learning,  of  eloquence,  and  of  un- 
bounded influence  with  his  people.  The  veneration  in 
which  he  was  held  was  so  proverbial  that  a  British  offi- 
cer stationed  at  the  place  once  asked  to  be  permitted  to 
see  Dr.  Buel.  When  he  left  his  presence  he  remarked, 
"  I  have  seen  the  god  of  Easthampton."  Dr.  Buel  was 
warmly  attached  to  the  cause  of  the  Colonies,  and  did 
not  conceal  his  sentiments ;  but  he  decided  to  stay  with 
his  people  and  share  with  them  the  fortunes  of  the  war. 
Such,  however,  was  the  respect  that  his  character  in- 
spired among  the  officers  of  the  British  army,  he  was 


32  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

allowed  to  remain  unmolested  during  the  whole  of  the 
conflict  without  in  any  measure  compromising  his  patri- 
otism ;  and  he  was  often  able  by  his  influence  to  obtain 
a  mitigation  of  the  treatment  of  his  parishioners  and 
others  who  favored  the  American  cause.1 

No  part  of  Long  Island  suffered  more  severely  in  the 
war  than  Huntington,  the  parish  of  Mr.  Prime,  which 
was  a  prosperous  town,  and  specially  important  to  the 
enemy  on  account  of  its  central  position  and  its  well- 

1  Dr.  Buel's  gentlemanly  bearing  and  sparkling  wit  made  him  a 
special  favorite  with  Sir  William  Erskine,  who  was  commander  of  the 
British  forces  in  that  part  of  the  Island,  and  the  traditions  of  East- 
hampton  have  many  anecdotes  of  their  intercourse.  At  one  time  Sir 
William  informed  Dr.  Buel  that  he  had  issued  an  order  to  the  people 
of  his  parish  to  appear  with  their  teams  and  tools  at  Southampton  the 
next  day  (which  was  the  Sabbath),  to  attend  to  some  work  which  he 
wished  done  at  that  time.  Dr.  Buel  replied  that  he  had  heard  of  the 
order,  but  being  commander-in-chief  on  that  day,  he  had  countermanded 
it.  The  precedence  of  the  pastor  on  the  Lord's  day  was  pleasantly 
admitted,  and  the  order  was  revoked. 

On  another  occasion  Dr.  Buel  was  invited  by  Sir  William  Erskine 
to  join  a  party  of  British  officers  in  a  deer-hunt.  Being  behind  the 
appointed  hour  in  making  his  appearance  on  the  ground,  the  entire 
party,  tired  of  waiting,  had  mounted  when  he  arrived.  The  younger 
officers  (of  whom  Lord  Percy,  afterward  Duke  of  Northumberland, 
was  one)  manifested  no  little  impatience  at  the  delay,  especially  as  it 
was  caused  by  a  rebel  parson.  Their  chagrin  was  increased  by  an 
order  from  Sir  William  to  dismount  to  receive  his  friend  with  becom- 
ing respect.  Lord  Percy,  being  introduced,  did  not  conceal  his  ill- 
humor,  and  on  being  asked  by  Dr.  Buel  what  portion  of  his  Majesty's 
forces  he  had  the  honor  to  command,  replied,  with  an  evident  intent  to 
insult  the  clergyman,  "  A  legion  of  devils  just  from  hell."  "  Then," 
said  Dr.  Buel,  "  I  suppose  I  have  the  honor  to  address  Beelzebub,  the 
prince  of  the  devils."  Lord  Percy,  stung  by  the  witty  repartee,  in- 
stantly put  his  hand  to  his  sword,  but  was  rebuked  by  Sir  William ; 
and  though  the  laugh  of  the  party  was  turned  upon  Percy,  the  polite- 
ness and  pleasantry  of  Dr.  Buel  restored  his  good-humor  before  the 
day  was  over,  and  compelled  him  to  respect  and  admire  the  man  whom 
in  his  resentment  he  had  called  "  an  old  rebel." 


REV.  EBENEZER  PRIME.  33 

protected  harbor.  The  British  troops  were  quartered 
on  the  inhabitants,  whom  they  treated  with  all  the 
rigors  of  war,  destroying  their  crops  and  wasting  their 
goods,  or  using  them  without  recompense.  The  Presby- 
terian church,  in  which  Mr.  Prime  had  so  long  min- 
istered, was  taken  for  a  military  depot,  and  the  pulpit 
and  pews  were  broken  up  and  used  for  fuel.  The 
pastor's  house  was  occupied  by  the  troops,  and  his 
valuable  library  used  for  lighting  fires,  mutilated  by 
the  destruction  of  portions  of  sets  of  books,  or  reck- 
lessly scattered  abroad.  His  study-chair,  which  still 
remains  in  the  family,  bears  the  marks  of  the  rough 
usage  to  which  all  his  property  was  subjected.  He 
was  an  object  of  special  hostility  on  account  of  his 
having  warmly  espoused  and  advocated  the  cause  of 
the  country  before  the  war  broke  out.  Driven  from 
his  own  home  in  his  seventy-seventh  year,  he  retired 
to  a  quiet  part  of  the  parish,  preaching  in  private 
houses  wherever  he  could  gather  any  of  his  people  to- 
gether. He  died  before  the  war  was  over,  having  min- 
istered to  this  one  church  for  sixty  years.  He  was 
buried  among  his  people  in  the  ancient  cemetery,  and 
a  stone  was  erected  at  the  head  of  his  grave  with  this 
inscription :  — 

In  Memory  of 

The  EEVD    EBENEZER  PRIME, 

Ob.  Sept.  25,  1779, 
M  79. 

This  head-stone,  with  others  marking  the  graves  of 
members  of  his  family  who  had  died  previous  to  the 
war,  has  a   curious  history  in  connection  with  those 

3 


34  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

troublous  times.  The  cemetery  covered  a  hill  in  the 
midst  of  the  village  of  Huntington,  overlooking  the 
town  and  harbor.  Toward  the  close  of  the  war  Colonel 
Thompson,  of  the  British  army  (afterward  Count  Rum- 
ford),  was  sent  with  a  body  of  troops  to  occupy  the 
place.  By  his  orders  the  venerable  church  building  in 
which  Mr.  Prime  had  so  long  ministered  was  torn 
down,  and  the  timber  used  for  constructing  barracks 
and  blockhouses  in  the  cemetery,  which  was  occupied 
as  a  fort.1  The  graves  were  levelled,  and  the  grave- 
stones used  by  the  soldiers  for  the  bottoms  of  their 
ovens.  The  traditions  of  Huntington  state  that  the 
loaves  of  bread  came  out  of  the  ovens  bearing,  in  relief 
and  in  reverse,  the  inscription,  "  In  Memory  of,"  etc. 
Colonel  Thompson,  who  was  violent  in  his  hostility  to 
the  American  cause,  and  who  cherished  a  special  hatred 
to  the  memory  of  the  late  patriotic  pastor,  had  the  grave 
of  Mr.  Prime  pointed  out,  and  gave  orders  that  his  own 
marquee  should  be  pitched  at  the  head  of  it,  so  that 
he   might   have   the   satisfaction   of   treading   on   the 

" old  rebel"  every  time  he  went  in  and  out  of 

his  tent. 

Several  years  after  the  war  was  over,  on  the  first 
occurrence  of  a  death  in  the  family,  the  friends  went 
into  the  graveyard  to  select  a  place  for  the  burial  as 
near  as  possible  to  the  former  location  of  the  family 
graves,  then  completely  obliterated.     One  of  the  per- 

1  By  a  noteworthy  coincidence,  this  ancient  church  was  wantonly 
demolished  on  the  very  day  on  which  the  Preliminary  Treaty  of  Peace 
was  signed  by  the  Commissioners  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  at  Paris,  Nov.  80,  1782.  It  was  a  fitting  close  to  the  numerous 
acts  of  vandalism  perpetrated  by  the  British  soldiery  on  Long  Island 
during  the  war. 


REV.   EBENEZER  PRIME.  35 

sons,  having  an  iron  bar  in  his  hand,  let  it  drop  with 
the  point  upon  the  ground,  saying,  "  I  think  it  was 
just  about  here."  The  iron,  sinking  into  the  soil,  struck 
something  that  sounded  hollow,  and  on  removing  the 
earth  the  old  pastor's  head-stone  was  discovered.  On 
further  examination  they  found  the  head-stones  of  all 
the  members  of  the  family  who  had  died  before  and 
during  the  early  years  of  the  war.  They  had  been 
taken  up  by  some  careful  hand,  laid  upon  the  graves 
a  few  inches  below  the  surface,  and  covered  with  earth. 
The  explanation  was,  that  when  the  pastor's  family 
were  driven  from  their  home  by  the  British,  the  house 
and  farm  were  left  in  charge  of  an  old  colored  servant, 
a  slave,  who  died  during  the  war.  It  was  presumed 
that  when  he  saw  the  graveyard  about  to  be  occu- 
pied as  a  fort  by  the  British  troops,  the  graves  levelled, 
and  the  head-stones  destroyed,  he  took  up  the  family 
stones  and  laid  them  flat  upon  the  graves  to  which 
they  severally  belonged,  covering  them  with  earth  suf- 
ficiently to  protect  them  from  observation  and  disturb- 
ance. These  stones,  replaced,  are  now  standing  (1888), 
the  only  monuments  in  this  ancient  cemetery  which 
antedate  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  publications  of  the  Bev. 
Ebenezer  Prime,  copies  of  all  which  are  still  preserved 
in  the  family :  — 

PUBLICATIONS    OF    THE    REV.    EBENEZER 
PRIME,   A.M. 

The  Pastor  at  Large  Vindicated,  From  a  Consider- 
ation of  the  Edification  of  Christ's  Mystical  Body  as  the 
great  End  &  Design  of  the  Institution  &  Perpetuation 


36  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

of  the  Evangelical  Ministry ;  in  a  SERMON  Preached  at 
the  Oyster  Ponds,  on  Long  Island,  Nov.  10,  1757,  Pre- 
vious to  the  Ordination  of  the  Reverend  Messieurs  Jona- 
than Barber  &  John  Darbie.  By  Ebenezer  Prime,  A.M. 
&  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Huntington,  on 
Long  Island.  Published  at  the  Desire  of  the  Ministers 
Present  &  others.  New- York :  Printed  &  Sold  by  H. 
Gaine,  at  the  Bible  &  Crown,  on  Hanover  Square. 
M,DCCLVIII. 

The  Divine  Institution  of  Preaching  the  Gospel 
Considered  ;  The  Nature  &  Quality  of  the  Gospel  Mission 
Opened  &  Illustrated,  and  the  Necessity  of  an  Investiture 
with  Office  Power,  by  Ordination,  in  order  to  the  Preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  according  to  Divine  Institution,  evidenced 
&  improved,  in  A  SERMON  Preached  at  Brook-Haven, 
on  Long-Island,  June  15,  1758,  Previous  to  the  Ordination 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Abner  Brush.  B}^  Ebenezer  Prime,  A.M. 
and  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Huntington  on 
Long-Island.  Published  in  Compliance  with  the  Desire 
of  Suffolk  Presbytery.  New- York:  Printed  &  Sold  by 
H.  Gaine,  at  the  Bible  &  Crown,  on  Hanover  Square. 
1758. 

The  Importance  of  the  Divine  Presence  with  the 
Armies  of  God's  People  in  their  Martial  Enterprises 
Considered  &  Improved,  and  a  Christian  Soldier  Admon- 
ished, Counselled  &  Encouraged :  a  Sermon  Preached  to 
the  Provincials  of  the  County  of  Suffolk,  at  Huntington 
on  Long  Island,  May  7,  1759.  By  Ebenezer  Prime,  A.M., 
Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Huntington.  Pub- 
lished in  Compliance  with  the  desires  of  a  number  of  the 
Soldiers,  Inhabitants  &  Strangers  that  were  hearers.  New 
York :  Printed  by  Samuel  Barker  at  the  New  Printing 
Office  in  Beaver  Street.    MD.CC.LIX. 


BENJAMIN  YOUNG  PRIME,  M.D. 

BENJAMIN  YOUNG  PEIME,  son  of  the  Eev.  Ebe- 
nezer  Prime  and  Experience  Youngs,  his  wife,  was 
born  at  Huntington,  Long  Island,  Dec.  20,  1733,  N.  s. 
His  mother  lived  but  three  weeks  after  his  birth,  and 
being  the  only  surviving  child,  he  was  the  object  of 
special  solicitude  and  care  in  his  training  and  education. 
His  father  early  instilled  into  his  mind  his  own  thirst 
for  knowledge,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  for  his 
great  attainments  in  classical,  scientific,  and  professional 
learning.  He  entered  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  then 
located  at  Newark,  under  the  presidency  of  the  Eev. 
Aaron  Burr.  He  was  graduated  in  1751,  sharing  the 
honors  of  the  class  with  his  intimate  friend  Nathaniel 
Scudder.1 

He  prosecuted  his  medical  studies  under  Dr.  Jacob 
Ogden,  of  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  and  commenced  prac- 

1  Nathaniel  Scudder  was  his  early  schoolmate,  his  college  class- 
mate and  room-mate,  and  his  fellow-student  in  medicine.  He  filled 
several  important  offices  in  State ;  he  was  one  of  the  Council  of 
Safety  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  at  the  opening  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary conflict,  and  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  from 
1777  to  1779.  He  was  killed  at  Shrewsbury,  N.  J.,  Oct.  16,  1781,  in 
a  skirmish  with  an  invading  party  of  British.  Dr.  B.  Y.  Prime  wrote 
an  elegiac  ode  on  the  occasion  of  his  death,  which  was  published  in 
"Muscipula,"  and  named  his  youngest  son  Nathaniel  Scudder,  in 
memory  of  his  friend. 


38  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

tice  at  Eastliampton,  Long  Island.  In  1756  he  was 
chosen  tutor  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  which  was 
removed  to  Princeton  the  same  year.  He  accepted  the 
appointment  after  much  deliberation,  and  while  fulfil- 
ling the  duties  of  his  position  devoted  his  leisure  to 
general  literary  pursuits.  In  1757  he  resigned  the  office 
of  tutor,  receiving  from  the  Board  of  Trustees  the  fol- 
lowing expression  of  their  regard  and  appreciation  of 
his  services.  This  certificate  is  subscribed  by  one  of 
the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  who 
was  then  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Princeton 
College :  — 

"  Thursday,  the  29th  of  Sept.,  1757. 
"  Mr.  Prime,  one  of  the  Tutors,  applying  to  this  Board 
"  for  a  dismission  from  his  office,  It  is  ordered  that  at  the 
"  request  of  the  sd  Mr.  Prime  he  be  dismissed  accord- 
"  ingly.  Nevertheless  the  Trustees,  being  fully  sensible 
"  of  the  abilities  of  the  said  Mr.  Prime  &  of  his  having 
"  faithfully  executed  his  sd  office  during  the  time  of  his 
"  continuance  therein,  do  with  reluctance  part  with  the 
"  sd  Mr.  Prime;  &  as  a  testimony  of  their  sense  of  his 
"good  conduct  &  merit,  do  present  him  with  £10  over 
"  &  above  his  salary,  &  are  sorry  that  the  smallness  of 
"  their  fund  will  not  admit  of  their  giving  him  a  larger 
"  sum. 

"  Signed,  Eichard  Stockton,  Clk." 

In  1760  he  received  the  honorary  degree  of  A.M. 
from  Yale  College,  having  taken  the  same,  in  course, 
at  Princeton  College. 

After  a  few  years'  practice  Dr.  Prime  resolved  to 
visit  some  of  the  medical  schools  of  Europe,  in  order 


BENJAMIN  YOUNG  PRIME,  M.D.  39 

to  enjoy  better  advantages  for  perfecting  his  knowledge 
and  experience  in  medicine  and  surgery  than  this 
country  at  that  time  afforded.  He  had  already  become 
an  accomplished  general  scholar,  and  had  made  him- 
self master  of  several  languages.  Under  the  instruc- 
tion of  his  father  he  had  become  familiar  with  the 
Hebrew;  he  not  only  read  the  ancient  Greek  and 
Latin  authors  as  freely  as  English  poetry  or  history, 
but  his  published  works  contain  poems  in  both  these 
languages.  At  one  period  of  his  life  it  was  his  favorite 
pastime  to  write  in  Latin  verse,  and  he  left  among  his 
papers  Latin  versifications  of  one  of  the  Psalms  in  all 
the  varieties  of  metre  of  the  Odes  of  Horace.  Among 
his  published  writings  is  an  extended  Greek  poem.  He 
had  also  acquired  several  modern  languages,  in  which 
he  wrote  and  spoke  with  as  much  facility  as  in  his  own. 
He  was  accordingly  well  prepared  to  profit  by  a  visit 
to  the  European  universities  and  capitals. 

He  embarked  at  New  York  for  England,  June  16, 
1762.  The  vessel  was  attacked  on  the  way  by  a 
French  privateer,  and  in  the  engagement  Dr.  Prime 
was  wounded.  He  spent  some  months  in  London, 
where  he  attended  a  course  of  anatomical  lectures,  and 
enjoyed  the  privileges  of  the  hospitals.  He  visited 
Edinburgh  with  the  same  objects  in  view,  and  prose- 
cuted his  studies  more  at  length  at  the  University  of 
Leyden,  which  was  once  the  most  renowned  of  the 
universities  of  Europe.  At  that  time  it  was  the  resort 
of  scholars  from  England  and  all  parts  of  the  Continent. 
After  a  thorough  medical  course  at  this  centre  of  learn- 
ing, and  after  an  examination  (as  his  diploma  reads) 
"per  Universam  Medicinam,"  on   presenting   a  Latin 


40  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

essay  upon  an  assigned  thesis,  and  defending  the  same 
"prompte  adversus  Professorum  opponentium  argu- 
"  menta,  objectionesque,"  he  received  his  medical  degree 
at  the  university,  July  7,  1764  His  essay  was  pub- 
lished at  Leyden  in  large  quarto,  and,  in  addition  to  its 
scientific  and  literary  merit,  is,  in  typography  and  style 
of  publication,  not  unworthy  of  the  celebrated  seat  of 
learning  at  which  it  was  presented  and  printed. 

He  travelled  as  far  as  Moscow,  and  returned  to  New 
York,  Nov.  14,  1764.1  Of  this  visit  to  Europe  the  Hon. 
Benjamin  Thompson,  the  historian  of  Long  Island,  says: 
"He  was  honored  with  a  degree  at  most  of  the  institu- 
"  tions,  and  was  much  noticed  for  his  many  accomplish- 
"  ments."  While  on  his  way  homeward  he  published 
in  London  a  volume  entitled,  "  The  Pateiot  Muse  ;  or, 
"  Poems  on  some  of  the  Principal  Events  of  the  Late 
"War  in  America"  (the  French  and  English). 

In  December,  1764,  Dr.  Prime  commenced  the  prac- 
tice  of   surgery  in   the   city  of  New  York.     He   had 

1  The  Rev.  Ebenezer  Prime  in  his  private  diary  alludes  as  follows 
to  the  departure  and  the  safe  return  of  his  son  :  — 

"  Huntington,  June  14,  1762.  —  This  day  my  only  son  &  only 
"child  yet  living  took  his  leave  of  us  &  went  to  N.  York,  with  a 
"  design  to  embark  on  board  the  Hariot  packet  for  England.  A  try- 
ing season!  I  desire  to  resign  him  up  unto  the  Lord,  to  whom  I 
"have  given  him.  O  may  the  divine  presence  go  along  with  him. 
"God  the  Father,  Son,  &  Holy  Ghost  be  his  Father  &  friend,  his  por- 
"  tion,  shield,  &  exceeding  great  Reward.     Amen  and  Amen." 

"  November  17,  1764.  — Last  Tuesday  my  son,  my  only  son  &  only 
"surviving  child,  B.  Y.  P.,  returned  from  Europe  to  N.  York,  &  this 
"  day  came  to  us  in  Huntington,  having  been  gone  from  us  two  Years, 
"  five  Months,  &  three  Days.  Glory  be  to  God  for  his  great  Good- 
"ness,  in  numerous  instances  of  it,  to  him,  &  to  us,  abroad  &  at 
"home,  &  for  his  safe  return.  All  our  salvations  are  of  God.  To 
"  Him  be  all  the  Glory,  for  ever  &  ever.    Amen. 

"  E.  P." 


BENJAMIN  YOUNG  PKIME,  M.D.  41 

scarcely  entered  upon  his  professional  career  when  the 
wrongs  of  the  American  Colonies  at  the  hands  of  the 
English  Government  began  to  awaken  public  discus- 
sion. With  the  enthusiasm  of  a  true  patriot,  he  threw 
himself  into  the  conflict,  foreseeing  that  it  was  to  be 
a  struggle  for  liberty,  if  not  for  independence.  He  had 
been  loyal  to  the  mother-country  in  her  contest  with 
the  French  for  supremacy  in  America,  but  he  was 
still  more  ardent  in  defending  the  Colonies  against  the 
oppressive  measures  adopted  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment in  its  endeavor  to  hold  them  in  absolute  subjec- 
tion. The  time  had  not  yet  come  for  drawing  the 
sword,  but  he  took  up  the  pen  and  wielded  it  with 
effect.  On  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  he  wrote  "  A 
Song  for  the  Sons  of  Liberty  in  New  York,"  which  was 
extensively  used  to  stir  up  the  spirit  of  American 
patriotism.  The  following  stanzas  are  taken  from  one 
of  the  printed  copies  :  — 

"In  story  we're  told 

How  our  fathers  of  old 
Braved  the  rage  of  the  winds  and  the  waves, 

And  crossed  the  deep  o'er 

To  this  desolate  shore, 
All  because  they  were  loath  to  be  slaves,  Brave  boys, 
All  because  they  were  loath  to  be  slaves. 

"  Heav'n  only  controls 

The  great  deep  as  it  rolls  ; 
And  the  tide  which  our  continent  laves 

Emphatical  roars 

This  advice  to  our  shores, 
O  Americans,  never  be  slaves,  Brave  boys ! 
O  Americans,  never  be  slaves. 


42  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

"  The  birthright  we  hold 

Shall  never  be  sold, 
But  sacred  maintain'd  to  our  graves  ; 

And  before  we  '11  comply 

We  will  gallantly  die, 
For  we  must  not,  we  will  not,  be  slaves,  Brave  boys  ; 
For  we  must  not,  we  will  not  be  slaves  ! " 

When  the  Eev.  Ebenezer  Prime  was  becoming  en- 
feebled by  age,  Dr.  B.  Y.  Prime,  being  his  only  surviving 
child,  gave  up  his  lucrative  practice  in  the  city  and 
took  up  his  residence  at  Huntington,  to  watch  over 
his  father's  declining  years.  They  dwelt  together  in  the 
old  homestead,  and  while  discharging  the  duties  of  their 
respective  professions,  spent  much  time  in  their  favorite 
literary  and  scientific  pursuits.  The  son  had  provided 
himself  with  chemical  and  philosophical  apparatus,  and 
was  much  interested  in  electrical  experiments,  having 
been  moved  thereto  by  the  discussions  which  followed 
the  discoveries  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin.  He  was  an 
astronomer  as  well  as  a  mathematician.  Among  the 
numerous  and  varied  scientific  papers  which  he  left 
behind  him  are  elaborate  calculations  of  the  orbits 
of  the  planets  and  the  erratic  movements  of  comets. 
Devoted  with  equal  ardor  to  the  cause  of  the  country, 
the  condition  of  which  was  constantly  assuming  graver 
importance,  both  father  and  son  labored  earnestly  to 
fan  the  flame  of  patriotism  which  was  burning  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  coming 
independence. 

Soon  after  he  had  settled  himself  at  Huntington,  Dr. 
Prime  received  a  visit  from  his  kinsman,  the  renowned 
but  eccentric  traveller,  John  Ledyard,  whose  name  has 


BENJAMIN  YOUNG  PRIME,  M.D.  43 

been  mentioned  in  the  family  genealogy.  Ledyard 
began  his  wanderings  over  a  great  part  of  the  known 
world  by  abruptly  leaving  Dartmouth  College  in  1773 
and  spending  several  months  among  the  Indians  of  the 
"  Six  Nations."  Eeturninff  through  Canada  to  the  head- 
waters  of  the  Connecticut,  he  dug  out  with  his  own 
hands  from  a  log,  after  the  style  of  the  Indians,  a  canoe, 
in  which,  with  a  Bible  and  a  copy  of  Ovid  for  his  only 
companions,  he  floated  down  the  river.  Crossing  the 
Sound,  he  made  a  tour  of  Long  Island  on  horseback. 
In  a  characteristic  letter  written  to  his  friends  soon 
after,  among  other  incidents  of  the  journey  he  made 
mention  of  his  visit  to  the  home  at  Huntington  :  — 

"  At  Easthampton  I  met  with  a  kind  reception  from 
"  the  Eev.  Mr.  Buel,  moderator  of  the  Synod,  an  influ- 
"  ential  man  and  a  glorious  preacher.  .  .  .  After  a  ride  of 
"  about  one  hundred  miles  I  arrived  at  Huntington,  a 
"  large  town  about  forty  miles  from  New  York,  where 
"I  visited  the  minister  of  the  place,  old  Mr.  Prime. 
"After  about  twelve  days'  feasting  upon  his  great 
"library,  and  a  quickly  made  friendship  with  Dr. 
"  (B.  Y.)  Prime,  formerly  of  New  York,  I  returned  to 
"  Mr.  Buel's,  and  stayed  a  short  time  with  that  her- 
"  mit,  where  and  with  whom  I  longed  to  be  buried  in 
"  ease." 

On  the  18th  of  December,  1774,  Dr.  Prime  married 
Mary  Wheelwright,  widow  of  the  Eev.  John  Greaton, 
rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Huntington.  She  was 
born  at  Boston,  July  10,  1744,  and  was  the  great-great- 
granddaughter  of  the  Eev.  John  Wheelwright,  founder 
and  pastor  of  Exeter,  N.  H.  Her  maternal  grandfather, 
Colonel  Goffe,  commanded  a  regiment  of  Provincials  in 


44  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

the  expedition  against  Louisburg  in  1745,  when  this  for- 
tress was  captured  from  the  French  by  New  England 
troops,  some  of  whom  lived  to  take  part  in  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill,  thirty  years  later. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Eevolutionary  War,  when  Long 
Island  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  Dr.  Benjamin 
Y.  Prime  was  compelled  to  flee  from  the  island  to 
escape  the  vengeance  of  the  enemy,  which  he  had 
aroused  by  his  patriotic  writings.  With  his  wife  and 
child  he  crossed  into  Connecticut,  where  he  remained 
until  the  conclusion  of  peace  in  1783, — a  period  of  seven 
years.  He  resided  at  New  Haven  and  Wethersfield, 
three  of  his  children  being  born  during  this  exile.  The 
departure  of  the  family  was  so  sudden  that  they  were 
compelled  to  abandon  the  homestead  with  all  its  con- 
tents, furniture,  library  and  valuables,  to  the  ravages 
of  the  soldiery.  Mrs.  Prime  hastily  put  the  family 
silver  into  a  canvas  sack  and  secretly  dropped  it  into  a 
well,  where  it  remained  during  the  seven  years  of  the 
war,  in  which  the  well  was  in  constant  use,  no  one  sus- 
pecting the  treasure  it  contained.  When  the  war  was 
over  and  the  family  returned  to  their  home,  reinforced 
by  three  children  who  had  been  born  in  Connecticut  in 
the  mean  time,  the  sack  with  its  contents  was  drawn 
up,  not  a  piece  of  silver  missing  or  injured.  These 
relics,  including  tankards  and  goblets,  are  still  pre- 
served in  various  branches  of  the  family  as  heirlooms 
and  memorials  of  the  experiences  of  the  Eevolutionary 
period.1 

1  These  pieces  of  silver  are  engraved  with  the  arms  of  the  Wheel- 
wright family,  which  Mary  Wheelwright  bore  as  heiress  of  the  estate. 
She  inherited  large  tracts  of  land  in  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  of 


BENJAMIN  YOUNG  PRIME,  M.D.  45 

In  mature  life  Dr.  Prime  became  a  man  of  humble 
piety,  and  illustrated  in  his  personal  walk  and  pro- 
fessional career  the  influence  of  the  early  instructions, 
the  life-long  counsels,  and  the  consistent  example  of 
his  godly  father.  An  autobiographical  sketch,  without 
date,  entitled  "Some  Eemarkable  Passages  in  the  Life 
"  of  B.  Y.  P.,"  is  a  record  of  several  striking  providences 
in  the  early  years  of  the  writer  which  had  made  a  deep 
impression  upon  him.  A  diary,  running  through  a 
series  of  years,  found  after  his  death  among  his  private 
papers,  contains  an  almost  daily  record  of  his  spiritual 
exercises,  with  frequent  references  to  the  emotions 
awakened  by  his  visits  to  his  patients.  Among  his 
published  poems  is  one  entitled,  "Meditation  over  a 
"  Dying  Patient,"  commencing,  — 

"  Well !  I  have  done  :  I  can  no  more, 
But  must  my  baffled  aim  deplore  ; 
I  '11  lay  my  drugs  and  cordials  by, 
For  art  is  vain,  and  he  must  die." 

Dr.  B.  Y.  Prime  died  suddenly  of  apoplexy  at  Hunt- 
ington, Oct.  31,  1791.  His  widow,  Mary  Wheelwright 
Prime,  lived  to  an  advanced  age.  She  was  a  woman  of 
remarkable  vigor  of  intellect  and  great  practical  wisdom. 
Left  by  the  death  of  her  husband  with  five  young 
children,  with  a  farm  and  a  large  property  which  had 

which  portions  were  sold  from  time  to  time  down  to  1798.  In  the 
year  1826  she  made  a  deed  of  gift  of  all  her  then  unsold  lands  to  her 
son,  Nathaniel  S.  Prime.  Although  situated  in  New  England,  they 
were  esteemed  wild  lands,  for  which  there  was  no  sale  ;  and  when  in 
later  times  they  had  become  valuable,  Mr.  Prime  declined  to  assert 
his  title  as  against  actual  settlers  or  holders  in  good  faith,  and  they 
were  suffered  to  pass  out  of  the  family. 


46  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

become  depreciated  in  value  by  the  ravages  of  war,  and 
involved  by  expenses  incurred  during  the  seven  years' 
exile  of  the  family,  she  managed  the  estate  with  such 
prudence  and  sagacity  that  it  was  wholly  redeemed  from 
embarrassment.  She  brought  up  her  children  with  ex- 
emplary fidelity  and  success,  and  gave  to  each  of  them 
a  good  education.  Possessed  of  a  strong  constitution, 
she  survived  and  recovered  from  repeated  attacks  of 
paralysis,  retaining  her  mental  vigor  to  the  last.  She 
died  March  7,  1835,  aged  90  years  and  8  months.  Her 
epitaph,  written  by  herself,  was  in  these  words  :  — 

Her  Frailties  and  Infirmities  bury  with  her  : 

If  there  was  anything  commendable  in  her  Life, 

Practise  and  Follow  it. 

The  children  of  Benjamin  Young  Prime  and  Mary 
Wheelwright  his  wife  were :  — 

1.  Ebenezer,  born  at  Huntington,  Long  Island,  Oct. 
7,  1775  ;  died  at  Huntington,  Feb.  20,  1842 ; 

2.  Liberty,  born  at  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  Oct.  13, 
1777 ;  died  at  New  York,  May  20,  1855  ; 

3.  Ann  Wheelwright,  born  at  New  Haven,  Conn., 
Jan.  10,  1780  ;  died  at  Huntington,  Sept.  18,  1813  ; 

4.  Mary  Wood,  born  at  New  Haven,  Conn.,  Sept.  1, 
1782 ;  died  at  New  York,  Feb.  25,  1835  ; 

5.  Nathaniel  Scudder,  born  at  Huntington,  Long 
Island,  April  21,  1785  ;  died  at  Mamaroneck,  N.  Y, 
March  27,  1856. 


BENJAMIN  YOUNG  PRIME,  M.D.  47 


PUBLICATIONS   OF  BENJAMIN  Y.   PRIME,   M.D. 

Dissertatio  Medic  A  Inauguralts,  De  Fluxu  Muliebri 
Menstruo,  Quam,  Favente  Summo  Numine,  Ex  Auctoritate 
Magnifici  Rectoris,  Ewaldi  Hollebeek,  Theologiae  Doctoris 
et  Professoris  in  Acad.  Lugd.  Bat.  Ordlnarii,  nee  non 
Amplissimi  Senatus  Academici  Consensu,  et  Nobilissiince 
Facultatis  Medicae  Decreto,  Pro  Gradu  Doctoratus,  Sum- 
misque  in  Medicina  Honoribus  et  Privilegiis,  rite  ac 
legitime  consequendis,  Eruditorum  Examini  fubmittit. 
Benjaminus  Young  Prime,  A.M.  Nov.  -  Eboracensis 
Americanus.  Ad  diem  7  Julii  MDCCLXIV.  H.  L.  Q.  S. 
Lugduni  Batavorum,  Apad  Theodorum  Haak,  1764. 
pp.  46. 

The  Patriot  Muse  ;  or,  Poems  on  some  of  the  Princi- 
pal Events  of  the  Late  War :  Together  with  a  Poem  on 
the  Peace  :  Vincit  Amor  Patriae.  By  an  American  Gen- 
tleman.    London.     1764.     8vo.     pp.  94. 

Columbia's  Glory;  or,  British  Pride  Humbled:  A 
Poem  on  the  American  Revolution :  Some  part  of  it  be- 
ing a  Parody  on  an  Ode  entitled  Britain's  Glory  ;  or,  Gal- 
lic Pride  Humbled  :  composed  on  the  Capture  of  Quebec, 
a.  d.  1759.  By  Benjamin  Young  Prime,  M.D.  New 
York :  Printed  by  Thomas  Greenleaf  for  the  Author. 
1791. 

Muscipula:  Sive  Cambromyomachia.  The  Mouse- 
trap ;  or,  the  Battle  of  the  Welsh  and  the  Mice  :  in  Latin 
and  English.  With  Other  Poems  in  different  Languages. 
By  an  American.  New  York :  M.  W.  Dodd.  pp.  96. 
1840.  [The  English  translation  of  the  Muscipula  is  the 
work  of  Dr.  B.  Y.  P. ;  the  other  poems  are  original.] 


REV.   NATHANIEL  S.   PRIME,  D.D. 

NATHANIEL  SCUDDER  PRIME,  son  of  Benjamin 
Young  Prime,  M.D.,  and  Mary  Wheelwright,  his 
wife,  was  born  at  Huntington,  Long  Island,  April  21, 
1785.  He  was  baptized,  was  admitted  to  the  commu- 
nion of  the  church,  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel, preached  his  first  sermon,  was  ordained  to  the 
ministry,  and  at  length  preached  his  semi-centennial 
sermon,  all  in  the  same  church  edifice,  which  was 
erected  the  year  before  his  birth  on  the  spot  where 
the  church  building  occupied  by  his  grandfather  dur- 
ing the  whole  sixty  years  of  his  ministry  had  been 
torn  down  by  the  British  just  at  the  close  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary War.  His  father  dying  when  the  son  was 
only  six  years  old,  his  mother  had  the  care  of  his  edu- 
cation. He  pursued  his  preparatory  studies  at  Hunt- 
ington Academy,  and  entered  the  College  of  New  Jersey 
(at  Princeton),  under  the  presidency  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Samuel  Stanhope  Smith.  Among  the  active  professors 
of  the  College  at  that  time  was  one  for  whom  Mr. 
Prime  always  expressed  the  warmest  regard,  —  John 
Maclean,  M.D.,  father  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Maclean, 
late  President  of  the  College. 

While  Mr.  Prime  was  in  his  Sophomore  year,  the 
college  building,  Nassau  Hall,  which  had  been  erected 

4 


50  THE  PKIME  FAMILY. 

before  the  Eevolution,  and  which  was  then  "  the  largest 
"  stone  edifice  in  America/'  was  set  on  fire  at  noonday, 
March  2,  1802,  and  was  consumed,  with  the  exception 
of  the  substantial  walls,  which  have  withstood  two 
conflagrations.1  This  venerable  structure,  the  interior 
having  been  twice  restored,  is  now  standing,  the  central 
figure  of  one  of  the  finest  ranges  of  college  buildings 
grouped  together  in  the  world,  —  certainly  unsurpassed 
in  this  country.  The  writer  has  heard  his  father  nar- 
rate some  very  amusing  incidents  connected  with  the 
fire  of  1802,  by  which  the  whole  body  of  the  students 
were  driven  out  to  seek  quarters  in  the  town  and  the 
surrounding  country.  Mr.  Prime  was  graduated  in 
1804,  in  the  largest  class  which  up  to  that  time  ever 
left  the  institution.  Among  his  classmates  were  the 
Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  Hon.  Joseph  E.  Inger- 
soil,  Eev.  Philip  Lindsley,  D.D.,  Hon.  Samuel  L. 
Southard,  etc. 

When  he  left  college  there  was  no  well-established 
theological  seminary  in  the  country  to  which  he  could 
resort  in  preparation  for  his  chosen  life-work,  the  gospel 
ministry.  Accordingly,  he  pursued  his  studies  at  Hunt- 
ington, in  the  mode  common  at  that  day,  under  the 
counsel  of  his  pastor,  the  Eev.  William  Schenck,  and 
with  the  advice  of  other  neighboring  ministers,  enter- 
ing at  once  upon  such  practical  service  as  every  congre- 
gation afforded,  —  a  kind  of  theological  training-school 
which  has  sent  out  into  the  great  field  a  host  of  labor- 
ers who  would  compare  most  favorably,  in  fitness  and 
ministerial  success,  with  the  graduates  of  the  theologi- 
cal seminaries  of  the  present  day. 

1  Nassau  Hall  was  burned  the  second  time  March  10,  1855. 


REV.  NATHANIEL  S.  PRIME,  D.D.  51 

Among  those  to  whom  Mr.  Prime  was  largely  in- 
debted for  counsel,  both  before  and  after  entering  the 
ministry,  were  the  Eev.  Dr.  Aaron  Wool  worth,  of 
Bridgehampton,  one  of  the  most  saintly  ministers  of 
his  day ;  the  Eev.  Herman  Dagget,  of  Fireplace,  a  man 
of  great  dignity,  who,  according  to  all  local  report, 
"  was  never  known  to  laugh,"  but  who  was  proverbially 
genial  in  character  and  manners,  and  of  whom  the  re- 
mark was  made  by  one  of  his  co-presbyters,  "  Brother 
"  Dagget  is  just  fit  to  preach  to  ministers ; "  and  the  Eev. 
Lyman  Beecher,  then  settled  at  Easthampton,  to  whom 
Mr.  Prime  was  wont  to  acknowledge  himself  as  greatly 
indebted  for  fraternal  advice  during  the  first  years  of 
his  ministry,  while  he  was  settled  at  Sag  Harbor,  a  few 
miles  distant  from  Easthampton. 

He  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island, 
Oct.  10,  1805,  at  Huntington,  where  he  preached  his 
first  sermon  among  his  kindred  and  friends.  He  im- 
mediately left  home  on  a  missionary  tour  eastward  on 
the  Island.  Stopping,  an  entire  stranger,  at  Cutchogue, 
he  was  asked  to  tarry  and  preach  on  the  coming  Sab- 
bath to  a  congregation  which,  owing  to  dissensions,  had 
long  been  without  a  pastor.  He  remained  at  this  place 
five  months,  preaching  and  laboring  with  all  the  ardor 
of  a  youth  just  entering  upon  the  great  work  of  his 
life.  He  succeeded  in  reconciling  the  differences  among 
the  people  and  in  building  up  the  church,  —  though 
not,  apparently,  in  developing  their  liberality ;  for  at 
the  end  of  this  term  of  service  he  received  his  salary  at 
the  rate  of  three  dollars  per  week,  and  left. 

He  performed  missionary  service  for  several  months 
at  other  places  on  the  Island,  and  in  the  following  June 


52  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

started  to  make  a  tour  of  New  England  on  horseback. 
Crossing  the  Sound,  he  spent  the  first  Sabbath  at  Nor- 
walk,  Conn.,  where  he  preached  for  the  Eev.  Dr.  Bur- 
nett, pastor  of  the  Congregational  church.  As  he  was 
taking  leave  of  his  host  on  Monday  morning,  Dr.  Bur- 
nett, apparently  in  perfect  health,  accompanied  him  to 
the  door,  and  bidding  him  farewell,  re-entered  the  house. 
He  was  immediately  stricken  with  apoplexy,  and  died 
within  two  hours  after  parting  with  his  guest,  who  was 
then  prosecuting  his  journey  wholly  ignorant  of  what 
had  befallen  his  friend.  At  Meriden,  Conn.,  Mr.  Prime 
was  seized  with  a  severe  illness,  which  compelled  him 
to  turn  his  steps  homeward  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to 
travel ;  and  it  was  several  months  before  he  had  fully 
recovered  from  the  attack. 

In  the  autumn  of  1806  he  was  appointed  by  his 
Presbytery  to  supply  the  pulpit  of  the  church  at  Sag 
Harbor.  His  labors  here  were  marked  by  an  extensive 
religious  awakening,  in  which,  within  the  space  of  six 
months,  one  hundred  persons  in  the  congregation  be- 
came hopefully  the  subjects  of  renewing  grace,  and 
many  were  also  added  to  the  neighboring  churches. 
Nearly  forty  years  afterward,  in  1845,  the  pastor  of 
this  church,  in  which  Mr.  Prime's  ministrations  had 
been  so  signally  blessed,  bore  this  testimony  to  their 
permanent  results :  "  The  stamina  of  this  church  at 
"  this  time ;  the  piety  and  wisdom  of  the  eldership  ; 
"  the  ability  and  efficiency  of  Sabbath-school  instruction  ; 
"  and,  in  a  word,  its  power  of  doing  good,  are  obviously 
"to  be  traced  to  the  revival  of  1808-9." 

On  the  5th  of  July,  1808,  he  married  Julia  Ann 
Jermain,   daughter  of   Major   John   Jermain,   of   Sag 


REV.  NATHANIEL  S.  PRIME,  D.D.  53 

Harbor,  who  was  the  happy  and  useful  companion  of 
his  subsequent  life.1 

He  was  ordained  at  Huntington,  Oct.  24,  1809 ;  and 
after  preaching  two  years  at  Smithtown  and  Freshpond, 
Long  Island,  he  left  the  Island  for  the  interior  of  the 
State,  spending  the  first  winter  at  Milton,  Saratoga 
County.  He  made  the  voyage  up  the  Hudson,  with  his 
wife  and  two  children,  in  a  sloop,  and  in  the  ordinary 
length  of  time,  seven  days,  —  longer  than  is  now  re- 
quired to  cross  the  Atlantic.2 

1  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Prime,  Margaret  Pierson  Jermain,  was  a 
lineal  descendant,  in  the  sixth  generation,  of  Henry  Pierson,  who 
came  from  England  to  Southampton,  Long  Island,  in  1640.  John 
Jermain  and  Margaret  Pierson,  his  wife,  had  four  sons  and  five 
daughters,  of  whom  all  but  one  were  born  in  the  last  century,  and  of 
whom  all  but  two  lived  to  be  over  eighty  years  of  age  ;  one  dying  in 
his  ninety-fifth  year.  One  still  survives,  in  her  eighty-fourth  year. 
They  all  early  in  life  became  members  of  the  Christian  Church, 
and  have  lived  consistent  Christian  lives.     They  were :  — 

Mary,  born  May  7,  1782,  wife  of  Daniel  Latham ;  died  Jan.  28, 
1811,  aged  29. 

Sylvanus  Pierson,  born  July  31,  1784;  died  April  20,  1869, 
aged  85. 

Rebekah,  born  Oct.  2,  1787,  wife  of  Alden  Spooner ;  died  Nov. 
15,  1824,  aged  37. 

Julia  Ann,  born  Jan.  31,  1789,  wife  of  Rev.  Nathaniel  S.  Prime ; 
died  Aug.  24,  1874,  aged  85. 

Alanson,  born  Feb.  10,  1791 ;  died  Nov.  5,  1885,  aged  94. 

Caroline,  born  Jan.  25,  1794 ;  wife  of  Rev.  Stephen  Porter ;  died 
June  18,  1877,  aged  83. 

John,  born  March  22,  1796  ;  died  March  14, 1881,  aged  85. 

George  Washington,  born  Sept.  29,  1798;  died  Sept.  21,  1879, 
aged  81. 

Margaret  Pierson,  born  March  4,  1804;  wife  of  Joseph  Slocum, 
now  living  in  her  eighty-fourth  year. 

2  To  give  an  idea  of  the  voyage  up  and  down  the  Hudson  in  a 
sloop  —  the  packet-ship  of  that  day  —  we  make  an  extract  from  the 
Journal  of  an  older  sister  of  Mr.  Prime,  written  several  years  previous, 
in  going  from  New  York  to  Albany  and  returning.    This  was  ten 


54  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

The  following  summer  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  first 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Cambridge,  Washington  County, 

years  before  the  first  steamboat  passed  up  the  Hudson.  The  writer 
of  this  Journal  was  then  a  girl  of  seventeen  :  — 

"April  9,  1797.  Two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  set  sail  from  New 
"  York  for  Albany ;  sailed  twenty  miles,  and  dropped  anchor  for 
"  that  day. 

"10th.  Head-wind  continued;  lay  at  anchor  under  the  Palisade 
"  mountains  ;  P.  and  myself  very  sick  ;  set  sail  about  noon ;  reached 
"  West  Point,  and  anchored  for  that  night. 

"  11th.  Set  sail  in  the  morning;  about  noon  reached  Newburg ; 
"landed  Mr  C,  Captain  0.  and  son  ;  took  on  board  Mr.  W. ;  set  sail 
"and  came  as  far  as  Poughkeepsie ;  anchored  and  lay  all  night. 

"  12(h.  Set  sail ;  came  as  far  as  Rhinebeck ;  dropped  anchor  in 
"the  afternoon,  and  went  ashore. 

"  13th.  Set  sail  in  the  morning  ;  raining  very  hard  ;  disagreeable 
"sailing;  toward  noon  began  to  snow  ;  very  cold;  reached  Livingston 
"  Manor.  Anchored,  and  lay  all  night  rolling  and  tossing ;  very  much 
"  frightened ;  called  to  Captain  Williams.  After  being  assured  there 
"  was  no  danger,  went  to  sleep,  and  slept  till  morning. 

"  11th.  In  the  afternoon  set  sail ;  got  as  far  as  Catskill ;  cleared 
"off  very  pleasant;  dropped  anchor  ;  boatmen  went  on  shore  ;  very 
"calm  all  night. 

"  15th.  Set  sail,  with  head-wind  continuing ;  had  a  fine  view  of 
"  Hudson ;  went  to  Loonenburgh  ;  dropped  anchor,  with  prospect  of 
"a  storm. 

"  16th.  Lay  all  day  at  Loonenburgh ;  about  noon  Mr.  B.  came 
" on  board  and  invited  us  on  shore;  came  on  board  in  the  evening. 

"  17th.  Wind  springing  up  southerly,  set  sail  in  the  afternoon ; 
"  had  a  fine  breeze ;  arrived  at  Albany  at  night  after  a  long  and 
"  tedious  voyage  of  nine  days  from  New  York." 

The  return  voyage  was  shorter  by  two  days. 

"  May  1st.  Set  sail  for  New  York  about  twelve  o'clock  with  a  fair 
"  wind  ;  reached  New  Baltimore,  where  we  stopped  to  take  in  wood ; 
"raining  very  hard  ;  not  able  to  do  anything. 

"  2d.     Rainy  all  day  ;  still  forced  to  lie  idle,  with  a  fair  wind. 

"  3d.  Cleared  off  pleasant ;  wind  springing  up  southerly,  felt 
"  quite  discouraged ;  went  on  shore  and  gathered  flowers. 

"  4th.  About  eleven  o'clock  set  sail  with  a  head-wind ;  readied 
"  Loonenburgh  about  noon,  with  hardly  perceiving  that  we  moved  at 
"  all ;  got  as  far  as  East  Camp  ;  anchored,  and  lay  all  night. 

"  5th.     Set  sail  in  the  forenoon  ;  wind  springing  up  ahead  ;  had  a 


REV.  NATHANIEL   S.  PRIME,   D.D.  55 

N.Y,  and  was  installed  pastor  July  14,  1813.  This 
was  the  scene  of  his  longest  and  most  important  pasto- 
ral labors,  and  here  he  exerted,  in  other  public  rela- 
tions, his  most  widely  extended  influence.  "  The  Old 
"White  Meeting-House,"  a  volume  by  his  son,  S.  Irenseus 
Prime,  published  without  names  of  persons  or  place,  is 
a  faithful  sketch  of  this  pastor  and  his  flock.  The 
Synod  of  Albany,  which  then  covered  the  whole  north- 
ern and  a  large  portion  of  the  middle  and  western 
parts  of  the  State,  was  more  or  less  the  field  of  his 
ecclesiastical  influence. 

Within  less  than  a  year  after  entering  upon  his  pas- 
torate at  Cambridge,  Mr.  Prime  performed  an  act 
which  is  best  related  in  the  words  of  his  semi-centen- 
nial sermon :  — 

"  Being  now  settled  on  a  competent  salary  and  with 
"  a  large  charge,  extending  over  twelve  miles  square,  I 
"  felt  the  importance  of  setting  myself  down  to  study. 
"And  yet,  from  the  strong  desire  of  the  congregation  to 

"rough  time ;  got  as  far  as  Rhinebeck  ;  went  up  to  the  clock  ;  Cousin 
"  P.  and  myself  so  sick,  could  not  help  ourselves ;  with  the  help  of 
"  Captain  Schenck  made  out  to  get  on  shore ;  felt  much  better.  Went 
"up  to  the  'Cottage  of  Content/  where  the  brown  loaf  and  maple 
"  sugar  were  administered  with  a  hearty  welcome. 

"  Qth.  On  Captain  Schenck's  going  out  in  the  morning,  we  heard 
"  the  joyful  sound  of  '  fair  wind.'  Set  sail ;  had  a  very  light  breeze  ; 
"  about  noon  wind  sprang  ahead ;  beat  down  as  far  as  New  Baltimore ; 
"  lowered  sail,  went  on  shore  ;  in  the  lime-kiln  saw  many  curiosities. 
"  Lay  all  night  there. 

"  1th.  Set  sail  in  the  morning  ;  made  one  mile,  and  forced  to  lower 
"  sail ;  P.  and  I  with  great  difficulty  got  on  shore ;  frightened  on 
"board  with  the  sight  of  a  snake  six  feet  long.  About  eleven  o'clock 
"  set  sail ;  after  getting  into  the  Highlands  had  a  fair  wind  ;  very 
"sick;  in  Tappan  Bay  most  delightful  sailing;  went  to  bed  about 
"  dark  ;  could  not  sleep  for  thinking  of  getting  to  New  York  ;  reached 
"there  between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock.  —  Seven  days  from  Albany." 


56  THE  PKIME  FAMILY. 

"  see  their  new  minister  at  their  respective  houses,  I  was 
"  often  tempted  to  spend  days  in  visiting  when  I  ought 
"  to  be  otherwise  employed.  After  pursuing  this  course 
"  for  four  months,  relying  on  my  old  stock,  I  found  I 
"  had  economized  time  to  write  only  ten  sermons. 
"  Under  the  deep  conviction  that  this  would  not  answer, 
"  I  performed  an  act  which,  from  the  benefits  resulting, 
"  I  can  recommend  to  every  young  minister  upon  chang- 
"  ing  his  field  of  labor.  Taking  out  all  my  old  sermons, 
"  to  the  number  of  three  hundred  and  fifty,  and  having 
"  selected  about  a  score,  as  specimens  of  my  early  essays 
"at  sermonizing,  I  made  a  bonfire  of  the  residue.  It 
"  was  the  noblest  act,  on  my  own  behalf,  I  had  ever  per- 
"  formed,  and  I  presume  it  was  no  less  beneficial  to  the 
"  world.  This  act  imposed  on  me  the  necessity  of  devot- 
ing three  or  four  days  in  each  week  exclusively  to 
"  study,  as  I  had  formed  the  determination  not  to  be  a 
"  sluggard  in  the  Lord's  Vineyard." 

Mr.  Prime  devoted  himself  with  assiduous  care  to 
the  education  of  his  children,  and  in  doing  so  acquired 
wisdom  from  experience.  His  two  earliest  born  were 
started  like  hot-house  plants,  being  taught  to  read  be- 
fore they  were  three  years  of  age,  and  early  advanced 
in  the  study  of  the  ancient  languages  and  in  science. 
After  these  experiments  he  became  convinced  that  he 
had  committed  an  error  in  forcing  their  tender  minds 
at  too  early  an  age,  and  his  younger  children  were  not 
allowed  to  open  a  book  or  even  to  learn  the  alphabet 
until  they  were  five  years  old.  He  was  inclined  to 
defer  the  commencement  of  their  school  education  to  a 
still  later  period. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  with  an  increasing 


REV.  NATHANIEL  S.  PRIME,  D.D.  57 

family  to  be  reared  and  educated,  and  with  a  salary  not  at 
all  commensurate  with  his  enlarged  expenses,  he  was 
induced  in  1821  to  accept  the  charge,  as  Principal,  of  the 
Washington  Academy  at  Cambridge,  —  an  institution 
which  for  many  years  had  been  sending  out  into  the 
world  a  large  number  of  influential  men.  This  afforded 
him  an  opportunity  immediately  to  superintend  the 
education  of  his  own  children,  to  send  his  five  sons  to 
college,  to  sustain  them  through  their  entire  course, 
and  to  give  a  liberal  education  to  his  two  daughters. 
He  tendered  to  his  congregation  his  resignation  of  his 
pastorate ;  but  it  was  declined,  and  for  several  years  he 
continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  both  offices. 

Throughout  his  life  he  preserved  and  cultivated  the 
scholarly  tastes  of  his  youth.  He  was  an  accomplished 
Greek  and  Latin  scholar,  delighting  to  find  rest  and 
refreshment  from  arduous  labor  in  reading  the  ancient 
classics  in  the  original  languages,  or  in  hearing  them 
read  by  his  children. 

He  became  an  enthusiast  in  electrical  science,  con- 
structing with  his  own  hands  for  his  laboratory,  bat- 
teries and  apparatus,  with  which  he  spent  much  time 
in  experimenting.  He  was  accustomed  to  prophesy  in 
his  public  lectures  and  in  his  family,  more  than  sixty 
years  ago,  that  the  time  would  come  when  electricity 
would  do  all  the  lighting,  warming,  and  cooking  work 
of  civilization,  and  drive  its  engines  also.  At  that  time 
there  was  in  the  city  of  Albany  a  young  watchmaker, 
named  Henry,  with  whom  Mr.  Prime  became  acquainted 
in  the  ordinary  way  of  his  business.  He  was  a  friend 
of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Peter  Bullions,  the  eminent  Greek 
scholar  who  was  Principal  of  the  Albany  Academy  and 


58  THE   PRIME   FAMILY. 

an  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Prime.  Finding  that  young 
Henry  had  devoted  much  attention  to  the  subject  of 
electricity  and  magnetism,  and  had  made  some  re- 
markable experiments,  Mr.  Prime  cultivated  the  ac- 
quaintance, which  ripened  into  a  life-long  friendship. 
Impressed  with  his  extraordinary  capabilities  and  at- 
tainments, Mr.  Prime  joined  with  Dr.  Bullions  in  urging 
him  to  bring  out  his  discoveries  in  a  public  lecture,  and 
promised,  if  he  would  do  so,  to  drive  from  Cambridge 
to  Albany,  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles,  to  hear  him. 
The  result  was  the  first  appearance  before  the  public 
of  the  eminent  Joseph  Henry,  who  was  successively 
professor  in  the  Albany  Academy  and  in  Princeton 
College,  and  still  later  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institute.  The  present  writer  (though  at  that  time  a 
mere  lad)  remembers  well  the  enthusiasm  with  which 
his  father,  on  his  return  from  Albany,  detailed  the  lec- 
ture, described  the  experiments,  and  entered  at  once 
upon  their  repetition  in  his  own  small  laboratory. 

An  incident  that  occurred  soon  after  the  commence- 
ment of  Mr.  Prime's  ministry  at  Cambridge  shows  his 
early  and  efficient  interest  in  the  cause  of  foreign  mis- 
sions. The  first  missionaries  to  the  Holy  Land  ap- 
pointed by  the  American  Board  were  Levi  Parsons 
and  Pliny  Fisk.  On  completing  his  studies  at  Andover 
Theological  Seminary  in  1818,  Mr.  Parsons  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Board  to  spend  a  year  visiting  the 
churches,  to  awaken  an  interest  in  the  cause,  and  to 
collect  money  for  the  Board,  which  was  then  in  its  in- 
fancy, and  greatly  in  need  of  funds  for  sending  out  and 
supporting  its  missionaries.  He  spent  several  weeks 
among  the  churches  of  Vermont,  but  met  with  little 


REV.  NATHANIEL  S.  PRIME,  D.D.  59 

success.  One  evening  he  came,  a  stranger,  to  the  house 
of  Mr.  Prime,  greatly  discouraged  with  his  failure,  hav- 
ing collected  in  the  State  of  Vermont  only  $155.  By 
his  gentle  manners  and  Christian  spirit  he  won  the 
hearts  of  the  pastor  and  his  household,  including  his 
young  children  who  have  never  ceased  to  cherish  his 
memory  with  tender  affection.  The  writer,  who  was 
then  just  four  years  old,  has  the  most  vivid  recollection 
of  this  man  of  God  and  of  many  of  the  incidents  of 
his  visit. 

On  the  following  Sahbath,  December  20,  Mr.  Parsons 
preached  on  the  subject  of  his  mission  to  the  Holy 
Land,  and  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  people. 
His  appeal  was  warmly  seconded  by  the  pastor,  and 
liberally  responded  to  by  the  congregation.  As  he  was 
about  leaving  the  place,  the  pastor  of  a  Scotch  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  same  town  called  upon  the  mis- 
sionary and  asked  him  to  visit  some  of  his  people  and 
present  the  cause  to  them  personally.  The  result  was 
that  Mr.  Parsons  left  Cambridge  inspired  with  fresh 
hope  and  taking  with  him  $505,  contributed  at  this 
place  to  the  funds  of  the  Board.  This  was  a  remark- 
able offering  to  the  cause  for  that  day ;  nor  was  it  an 
evanescent  expression  of  interest  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Prime  and  his  church.  The  work  of  missions  continued 
to  call  forth  their  prayers  and  their  liberal  contribu- 
tions, and  the  monthly  concert  of  prayer  for  missions 
became  one  of  the  most  interesting  meetings  of  that 
church. 

Mr.  Prime  was  constitutionally  a  reformer,  —  not  a 
mere  ideal,  but  a  practical  reformer.  He  allowed  his 
reason  and  good  sense  to  regulate  his  action;  but  in 


60  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

considering  questions  of  duty  he  never  took  counsel  from 
his  fears,  and  in  carrying  out  his  conscientious  convic- 
tions he  conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood.  He  was 
one  of  the  earliest  pioneers  in  the  temperance  refor- 
mation. On  entering  the  sacred  ministry,  long  before 
there  was  any  popular  movement  in  this  direction,  he 
became  convinced  that  intoxicating  drinks  were  not 
necessary  to  the  enjoyment  of  health  and  vigor,  and  he 
resolved  personally  to  abstain.  But  in  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  hospitality  of  that  day  the  decanters  were  al- 
lowed to  remain  on  his  sideboard,  and  were  in  requisi- 
tion at  all  social  gatherings,  not  excepting  ministerial. 
In  the  year  1811  the  celebrated  essay  by  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  entitled  "An  Inquiry  into  the 
"effects  of  Ardent  Spirits  on  the  Human  Body  and 
"Mind,"  was  distributed  in  the  Presbyterian  General 
Assembly,  and  a  copy  of  it  was  put  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Prime.  It  produced  upon  him  such  an  impression 
that  as  he  rose  from  its  perusal  he  went  to  his  side- 
board, locked  up  his  decanters,  and  never  again  "  put 
"  the  bottle  to  his  neighbor's  lips."  Under  the  inspira- 
tion of  Dr.  Rush's  treatise  he  wrote  a  sermon  from  the 
passage  in  Proverbs  :  "  Who  hath  woe  ?  Who  hath  sor- 
"  row  ?  Who  hath  contentions  ?  Who  hath  babbling  ? 
"  Who  hath  wounds  without  cause  ?  Who  hath  redness 
"of  eyes?  They  that  tarry  long  at  the  wine  ;  they  that 
"  go  to  seek  mixed  wine,"  etc.  This  sermon  he  preached 
at  the  opening  of  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island,  Nov. 
5,  1811.  It  produced  a  great  sensation.  Some  of  his 
ministerial  brethren  thought  he  was  beside  himself. 
One  of  them  said :  "  Brother  Prime  is  the  youngest 
"member  of  the  Presbytery,  and  does  he  presume  to 


REV.  NATHANIEL   S.  PRIME,  D.D.  61 

"  teach  us  old  men  on  this  subject  ? "  The  Presbytery 
on  the  following  day  took  up  the  matter,  and  after  a 
full  discussion  unanimously  adopted  the  following 
resolution :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  hereafter  ardent  spirits  and  wine 
"  shall  constitute  no  part  of  our  entertainment  at  any 
"  of  our  public  meetings  •  and  that  it  be  recommended 
"to  their  churches  not  to  treat  Christian  brethren  or 
"  others  with  ardent  spirits  as  a  part  of  hospitality  in 
"  friendly  visits." 

The  Presbytery  sent  to  the  churches  under  its  care  a 
pastoral  letter  on  the  same  subject,  which,  according  to 
the  records  of  the  time,  had  a  very  salutary  effect  in 
promoting  a  wholesome  public  sentiment  in  regard  to 
the  evils  of  intemperance.1  By  a  unanimous  vote  of 
the  Presbytery,  Mr.  Prime's  sermon  was  published  and 
circulated  on  Long  Island,  and  in  some  communities 
led  to  the  adoption  of  strictly  temperance  principles 
and  action.  After  his  removal  to  Cambridge  he  took  a 
leading  part  in  promoting  the  cause  by  its  public  advo- 
cacy, by  the  organization  of  temperance  societies,  by 
writing  for  the  public  Press,  and  by  his  own  consistent 
personal  example. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1825,  which  opened  the  fiftieth 
or  jubilee  year  of  the  independence  of  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Prime  delivered  in  his  own  pulpit  at  Cam- 
bridge a  discourse  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  taking  for 
his  text  a  passage  from  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence :  "  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that 
"  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by 

1  A  copy  of  this  letter  and  the  action  taken  by  the  Presbytery 
may  be  found  in  the  appendix  to  Prime's  "  History  of  Long  Island." 


62  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

"their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights  ;  that 
"among  these  are  Life,  Liberty,  and  the  Pursuit  of 
"  Happiness."  It  was  a  calm  but  thorough  discussion 
of  the  subject  of  American  slavery,  with  all  its  wrongs 
and  sins  and  perils  to  the  country.  The  discourse 
was  preached  on  a  week-day  to  a  large  congregation, 
which  immediately  took  measures  for  its  publication. 
It  was  printed  with  the  title,  "  The  Year  of  Jubilee, 
"but  not  to  Africans." 

During  his  residence  of  eighteen  years  at  Cambridge, 
Mr.  Prime  took  a  leading  part  in  the  religious  and 
benevolent  movements  of  the  day,  and  was  specially 
active  in  promoting  the  cause  of  popular  education 
and  sound  learning.  Here  he  was  associated  with  a 
number  of  professional  gentlemen,  some  of  them  grad- 
uates of  the  Scotch  universities,  who  formed  a  club  for 
classical  and  scientific  study,  and  were  largely  instru- 
mental, by  public  lectures  and  other  means,  in  promot- 
ing widely  in  the  community  a  taste  for  learning.  He 
was  a  trustee  of  Middlebury  College  from  1822  to  1826, 
and  of  Williams  College  from  1826  to  1831,  when,  hav- 
ing removed  to  a  distance,  he  resigned. 

In  the  spring  of  1830  he  accepted  an  invitation  to 
become  Principal  of  the  Mount  Pleasant  Academy  at 
Sing-Sing  on  the  Hudson,  and  also  took  charge  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  again  performing  this  double  ser- 
vice for  several  years.  In  1831  he  established  at  the 
same  place  a  female  seminary,  which,  under  the  im- 
mediate superintendence  and  instruction  of  his  eldest 
daughter,  afterward  Mrs.  A.  P.  Cumings,  soon  acquired 
a  high  reputation.  The  building  occupied  by  this  semi- 
nary was  destroyed  by  fire  in  October,  1835,  when  the 


REV.  NATHANIEL  S.  PRIME,  D.D.  63 

institution  was  removed  to  Newburgh,  where  it  con- 
tinued to  nourish  under  the  same  direction. 

On  the  night  of  May  17,  1849,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Prime 
had  a  narrow  escape  from  being  buried  alive  in  a  watery 
grave.  Intending  to  visit  some  friends  at  Ballston  Spa, 
they  left  New  York  at  evening  in  the  steamer  "  Em- 
pire," bound  for  Troy.  They  retired  to  their  berths 
about  ten  o'clock,  and  not  long  after  were  aroused  by  a 
sudden  shock.  The  engine  having  stopped,  they  has- 
tened on  deck  in  their  night  clothing,  to  find  a  crowd  of 
passengers  in  a  state  of  alarm  and  confusion,  which  was 
increased  on  learning  that  there  were  several  feet  of 
water  already  in  the  cabin,  but  no  one  seemed  to  know 
what  had  happened.  As  the  steamer  was  sinking,  they 
were  assisted,  in  some  way  they  knew  not  how,  to 
climb  to  the  upper  deck,  from  which  they  got  on  board 
a  schooner  loaded  with  lumber,  —  the  vessel  that  had 
caused  the  disaster  by  running  into  the  "  Empire  "  in  the 
darkness.  The  steamer  almost  immediately  went  down 
in  deep  water,  with  a  number  of  the  passengers  con- 
fined in  the  cabin,  between  twenty  and  thirty  of  whom 
perished.  The  schooner  continued  to  float,  and  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Prime  were  taken  off  and  landed  at  New- 
burgh,  where  they  were  supplied  by  friends  with  cloth- 
ing. Taking  a  steamer  that  was  passing  down  the  river, 
Mrs.  Prime  was  in  New  York  again  before  morning, 
bringing  to  the  family  the  first  news  of  their  peril  and 
of  their  remarkable  escape. 

On  retiring  from  active  responsibility  as  an  educator, 
Dr.  Prime  declined  to  accept  a  pastoral  charge.  He 
continued,  as  had  always  been  his  wont,  to  be  diligent 
in  business,  devoting  his  time  and  energies  largely  to 


64  THE   PRIME  FAMILY. 

gratuitous  public  service.  He  wrote  much  for  the  Press, 
he  performed  missionary  labor  in  various  localities,  he 
occupied  different  pulpits  in  New  York  city,  Brooklyn, 
Newark,  and  other  places,  —  in  some  cases  for  a  year  or 
more,  —  preaching  with  as  much  vigor  and  acceptance 
as  in  former  years.  Nor  in  fulfilling  these  engagements 
did  he  draw  upon  his  old  stock  of  sermons,  but  contin- 
ued to  prepare  for  the  pulpit  as  studiously  and  with  as 
much  interest  as  in  the  earliest  days  of  his  ministry. 

On  the  21st  of  October,  1855  (the  day  succeeding  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  one  on  which  he  preached  his 
first  sermon  at  Huntington,  Long  Island,  his  native 
town),  he  preached  at  the  same  place  and  in  the  same 
church  a  discourse  commemorative  of  his  ministerial 
life.  This  was  subsequently  amplified  for  the  benefit 
of  his  children.  The  private  portion  of  these  reminis- 
cences concluded  as  follows  :  — 

"In  closing  this  review  I  ought  to  record  the  peculiar 
"  goodness  of  God  to  me  through  a  life  and  ministry  ex- 
"  tended  so  far  beyond  the  average  of  human  existence 
"on  earth,  and  under  circumstances  of  peculiar  comfort 
"  and  enjoyment.  Trials  I  have  had — and  who  has  not  ? 
"  —  but  they  have  always  appeared  to  me,  not  only 
"smaller  than  my  deserts,  but  lighter  than  those  of 
"others.  It  has  been  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  my 
"  heart  that  few  have  passed  through  as  long  a  life  as  I 
"have  lived,  and  enjoyed  as  large  a  share  of  happiness  as 
"  has  been  assigned  to  me  by  a  kind  Providence.  I  have 
"  been  blessed  with  a  family  of  children  who  have  never 
"  dishonored  their  parentage;  and  the  most  of  them  have 
"passed  the  meridian  of  life  with  qualifications  and  with 
"  a  disposition  to  labor  in  the  service  of  God  and  for  the 


REV.  NATHANIEL  S.  PRIME,  D.D.  65 

"  benefit  of  the  world.  Only  one  of  them  has  been  cut 
"  down  by  the  way ;  and  in  that  case  we  had  the  un- 
speakable consolation  to  believe  that  he  had  the  honor 
"  of  being  the  first  of  the  family  to  be  bid  welcome  to 
"  his  Father's  and  our  Father's  house  above." 

During  several  of  his  later  years  Dr.  Prime  resided 
in  the  city  of  Brooklyn.  The  last  year  he  spent  at  the 
country  home  of  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  A.  P.  Cumings,  at 
Mamaroneck.  Almost  from  the  period  of  his  reaching 
manhood  he  had  anticipated  a  sudden  death,  having 
had  early  and  frequent  intimations  of  a  tendency  to 
apoplexy.  More  than  once  on  this  account  he  had  been 
advised  for  a  brief  season  to  suspend  public  service,  and 
especially  pulpit  labor.  But  such  attacks  soon  passed 
away.  The  end  came  in  a  different  form,  though  not 
less  suddenly.  On  the  27th  of  March,  1856,  he  spent 
the  day  writing  a  sermon,  which  he  had  commenced  in 
the  morning,  on  a  subject  that  had  recently  impressed 
itself  upon  his  mind,  —  "Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
"law."  He  had  nearly  completed  the  sermon  as  the 
daylight  was  passing  away.  Laying  down  his  pen,  he 
spent  the  evening  in  cheerful  conversation  with  the 
family,  and  retired  at  his  usual  hour,  apparently  in 
perfect  health.  About  midnight  he  awoke  and  com- 
plained of  pain  in  the  region  of  the  heart.  While  his 
wife  and  daughter  were  ministering  to  his  relief,  with- 
out a  thought  that  his  end  was  near,  his  heart  suddenly 
stood  still,  and  his  active,  useful  life  was  ended. 

Dr.  Prime  was  a  man  of  fine  personal  appearance  and 
commanding  presence.  He  had  a  clear,  strong  voice, 
which  added  much  to  his  power  in  the  pulpit  and  in 
deliberative  assemblies.     He  was  an  easy  extempora- 

5 


QQ  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

neous  speaker,  a  forcible  debater,  with  a  ready  flow  of 
language,  strongly  argumentative  in  the  pulpit  as  well 
as  in  debate,  seldom  indulging  in  rhetoric,  and  never 
employing  it  as  a  substitute  for  thought  or  logic.  His 
preaching  was  "in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  not 
"  with  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in  demon- 
"  stration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power."  When  he  spoke 
on  any  occasion,  no  one  who  heard  him  was  in  any  doubt 
as  to  what  he  meant;  if  it  was  on  any  controverted 
point,  no  one  doubted  on  which  side  he  stood.  As  a 
theologian  his  views  were  clear,  and  clearly  expressed. 
He  was  not  only  firmly,  but  intelligently  attached  to 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  he  had  his  birth,  — 
to  its  system  of  doctrine  and  form  of  government.  As 
an  expounder  of  Presbyterian  law  and  order,  and  as  an 
advocate  in  the  church  courts,  he  had  no  superior.  His 
counsel  was  often  sought  in  cases  of  discipline,  and  he 
was  frequently  appointed  on  commissions  to  determine 
difficult  cases  of  ecclesiastical  procedure. 

The  degree  of  S.  T.  D.  was  conferred  on  him  in  1848 
by  Princeton  College,  —  an  honor  which  he  accepted 
with  pleasure,  chiefly  because  it  was  conferred  by  his 
own  Alma  Mater. 

Of  his  general  character  and  bearing,  the  Eev. 
Dr.  Sprague  wrote  in  his  "Annals  of  the  American 
"Pulpit:"  — 

"  I  knew  the  venerable  Dr.  Prime  quite  well  during 
"  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  and  always  regarded  him 
"as  a  noble  specimen  of  a  man  and  a  minister.  He  had 
"  a  mind  of  uncommon  force  and  discrimination ;  a  noble 
"and  generous  spirit;  simple  and  engaging  manners ;  an 
"invincible  firmness  in  adhering  to  his  own  convictions; 


REV.  NATHANIEL   S.  PRIME,  D.D.  67 

*  an  earnest  devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  his  fellow- 
"  men  ;  an  excellent  talent  for  the  pulpit ;  great  tact  at 
"  public  business ;  and  a  remarkably  graceful  facility  at 
"mingling  in  a  deliberative  body.  He  inherited  from 
"  his  father  and  grandfather  a  taste  for  letters,  which 
"he  cultivated  through  life  and  transmitted  to  his 
"  posterity." 

His  widow,  Mrs.  Julia  Ann  Prime,  survived  him 
nearly  eighteen  years.  After  enjoying  a  serene  old  age, 
cherished  in  the  affections  and  homes  of  her  children, 
retaining  her  mental  faculties  unimpaired,  and  enjoying 
bodily  vigor  and  health  to  the  last,  she  passed  away  from 
earth  peacefully,  at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Cum- 
ings,  at  White  Plains,  August  24th,  1874.  As  in  the 
case  of  her  husband,  neither  she  nor  any  of  her  family 
were  anticipating  her  departure.  She  had  a  slight  ill- 
ness, from  which  she  was  apparently  recovering.  On 
the  morning  of  her  decease  she  awoke  bright  and  cheer- 
ful ;  without  rising,  she  sat  up  for  a  short  time  in  her 
bed,  and  as  she  laid  her  head  again  upon  the  pillow, 
she  closed  her  eyes  and  repeated  aloud  the  first  words 
of  the  simple  prayer  of  her  childhood :  — 

"Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep, 
I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  keep ; 
If  I  should  die  before  I  wake, 
I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  take." 

While  the  words  were  yet  on  her  lips,  and  before  she 
had  finished,  the  prayer  was  answered ;  she  had  gone 
to  be  "  forever  with  the  Lord." 

The  following  notice  of  the  decease  of  Mrs.  Prime  is 
taken  from  the  "  Washington  County  Post,"  published  at 


68  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

Cambridge,  N.  Y.,  where  she  had  spent  nearly  twenty 
years  of  her  life  as  a  pastor's  wife  :  — 

"  No  son  or  daughter  of  the '  Old  White  Church '  during 
"  the  pastorate  of  the  distinguished  Dr.  Prime  over  that 
"  church  ever  failed  to  love,  esteem,  and  —  we  had  al- 
"  most  said  —  to  worship  the  subject  of  this  obituary. 
"  Nature  had  vouchsafed  to  her  in  a  remarkable  degree 
"  the  rare  qualities  of  grace  and  beauty.  These,  together 
"  with  richly  endowed  and  highly  cultivated  powers,  en- 
"  abled  her  to  wield  an  influence  that  few  of  her  sex  can 
"  claim,  and  the  impress  of  which  is  indelibly  stamped 
"  upon  the  moral  and  religious  character  of  not  a  few  in 
"  our  community  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation. 
"  She  was  permitted  to  live  and  witness  her  family  of 
"sons  and  daughters  grow  up  and  take  rank  among 
"  the  most  distinguished  scientific  and  literary  men  and 
"  women  of  the  land,  all  of  whom,  we  doubt  not,  will 
"  prove  bright  stars  in  her  crown  of  rejoicing." 

The  children  of  Nathaniel  Scudder  Prime  and 
Julia  Ann  Jermain,  his  wife,  were, — 

Maria  Margaretta,  born  at  Sag  Harbor,  Long 
Island,  Aug.  14,  1809 ; 

Alanson  Jermain,  born  at  Smithtown,  Long  Island, 
March  12,  1811;  died  at  White  Plains,  N.  Y.,  April  3, 
1864. 

Samuel  Iren^eus,  born  at  Ballston,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  4, 
1812 ;  died  at  Manchester,  Vt.,  July  18,  1885. 

Edward  Dorr  Griffin,  born  at  Cambridge,  N.  Y., 
Nov.  2,  1814. 

Cornelia,  born  at  Cambridge,  N.  Y,  Nov.  29,  1816. 


REV.  NATHANIEL  S.  PRIME,  D.D.  69 

Gerrit  Wendell,  born  at  Cambridge,  N.  Y.,  July  13, 
1819  ;  died  at  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  April  12,  1837. 

William  Cowper,  born  at  Cambridge,  N.  Y,  Oct.  31, 
1825. 

PUBLICATION'S  OF  REV.  NATHANIEL  S.  PRIME,  D.D. 

A  Collection  of  Hymns,  Original  and  Select,  for  the 
use  of  Small  Assemblies  and  Private  Christians.  By  Na- 
thaniel S.  Prime,  Sag  Harbor.  Printed  by  Alden  Spoon er. 
1809.   pp.  139. 

The  Pernicious  Effects  of  Intemperance  in  the  use 
of  Ardent  Spirits,  and  the  Remedy  for  that  Evil.  A  SER- 
MON delivered  at  the  Opening  of  the  Presbytery  of  Long 
Island  at  Aquebogue,  Nov.  5,  1811.  By  Nathaniel  S. 
Prime.  (Published  by  Request.)  Brooklyn :  Printed  by 
Alden  Spooner.     1812.    pp.  40. 

An  Address  to  the  Cambridge  Branch  of  the  Moral  So- 
ciety of  the  County  of  Washington.  Delivered  Sept.  11, 
1815.  By  Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Cambridge  (N.  Y.) .  Albany  :  Printed  by  Church- 
ill Abbey,  No.  95  State  Street,  Five  Doors  east  of  the 
Episcopal  Church.     1815.     pp.  24. 

A  Plan  for  the  more  Successful  Management  of  Domes- 
tic Missions,  in  a  Letter  to  a  Friend.  By  an  Evangelist. 
Albany :  Printed  by  Henry  C.  Southwick,  No.  94  State 
Street.     1816.     pp.  23. 

Divine  Truth  the  Established  Means  of  Sanctification  : 
A  Sermon,  Delivered  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Wash- 
ington County  Bible  Society,  N.  Y.,  in  South  Granville,  Jan. 
29,  1817.  By  Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  Pastor  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Cambridge,  N.  Y.  Salem  :  Printed  by 
Dodd  &  Stevenson,  at  the  Salem  Bookstore.   1817.   pp.  32. 


70  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

A  Familiar  Illustration  of  Christian  Baptism,  in 
which  the  Subjects  of  that  Ordinance  and  the  Mode  of 
Administration  are  ascertained  from  the  Word  of  God  and 
the  History  of  the  Church ;  and  defended  from  the  Objec- 
tions usually  urged  by  the  Opposers  of  Infant  Baptism  and 
the  Advocates  of  Immersion.  In  the  Form  of  a  Dialogue. 
By  Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  Pastor  of  the  Presbj-terian  Church 
in  Cambridge,  N.  Y.  Salem,  N.  Y. ;  Printed  by  Dodd 
&  Stevenson.     1818.     pp.  312. 

Address  to  the  Congregation  at  the  Ordination  of 
Absalom  Peters  as  Pastor  of  the  Congregation  Church  at 
Bennington,  Vt.,  July  5th,  1820. 

The  Year  of  Jubilee,  But  not  to  Africans  :  A  Dis- 
course delivered  July  4th,  1825,  Being  the  Forty-ninth  An- 
niversary of  American  Independence.  By  Nathaniel  S. 
Prime,  Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Cam- 
bridge, N.Y.  Salem:  Printed  by  Dodd  &  Stevenson. 
1825.    pp.  24. 

Charge  to  Rev.  Samuel  Irenseus  Prime.  Delivered  at 
his  Installation  as  Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Matteawan,  in  the  Town  of  Fishkill,  Dutchess  County, 
N.  Y.,  May  23,  1837.  By  Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  Principal 
of  the  Newburgh  Female  Seminary.  Newburgh  :  Printed 
by  J.  D.  Spalding.     1837.     pp.  22. 

A  History  of  Long  Island,  from  its  First  Settlement 
by  Europeans,  to  the  Yrear  1845,  with  Special  Reference  to 
its  Ecclesiastical  Concerns.  In  Two  Parts.  I.  Its  Physical 
Features  and  Civil  Affairs.  II.  Annals  of  the  Several 
Towns,  relating  chiefly  to  Ecclesiastical  Matters.  By  Na- 
thaniel S.  Prime.  New  York :  Robert  Carter,  58  Canal 
Street ;  and  Pittsburg,  56  Market  Street.    1845.   pp.  420. 


MRS.   MARIA  M.   CUMINGS. 

MAEIA  MAEGAEETTA,  eldest  child  of  the  Eev. 
Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  D.D.,  and  Julia  Ann  Jer- 
main,  his  wife,  was  born  at  Sag  Harbor,  Long  Island, 
Aug.  14,  1809.  She  early  exhibited  a  decided  taste  for 
the  study  of  languages,  especially  for  the  Latin  and 
Greek  ;  and  before  she  was  fifteen  had  made  written 
translations  of  several  of  the  ancient  classic  authors. 
After  enjoying  the  advantages  of  the  female  department 
of  the  Washington  Academy  at  Cambridge,  she  attended 
the  school  of  Miss  Gilbert  at  Albany,  and  completed 
her  school  education  at  the  Troy  Female  Seminary 
under  Mrs.  Emma  Willard,  the  distinguished  pioneer 
in  the  higher  education  of  women.  This  distinction  has 
been  claimed  for  other  American  teachers ;  but  the  in- 
stitution which  Mrs.  Willard  founded  was  by  several 
years  the  first  to  offer  to  young  women  a  complete 
education,  and  to  fit  them  to  become  educators  of  their 
own  sex  in  all  the  departments  of  useful  learning.  As 
the  pioneer,  and  as  an  institution  of  a  high  order,  it 
merits  this  recognition. 

Inspired  by  the  enthusiasm  of  her  eminent  instruc- 
tress, and  by  her  own  desire  for  usefulness,  Miss  Prime 
devoted  several  years  to  the  practical  work  of  teaching 
others.     At  the  age  of  fifteen  she  became  an  assistant 


72  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

to  her  father  in  the  Cambridge  Academy,  and  had 
under  her  immediate  instruction  advanced  pupils,  in- 
cluding a  number  of  young  men  who  were  largely 
indebted  to  her  for  their  preparation  to  enter  college, 
and  who  in  subsequent  professional  life  made  special 
acknowledgment  of  their  obligations  to  her  for  laying 
the  foundations  of  their  classical  education.  Mention 
has  been  made  in  the  preceding  sketch  of  a  club  of 
literary  and  professional  gentlemen  who  met  regularly 
to  revive  their  college  and  university  studies,  and 
especially  to  read  familiarly  their  favorite  Latin  and 
Greek  authors.  Miss  Prime's  rare  attainments  in  the 
languages  secured  for  her  a  unanimous  election  as  a 
member  of  this  club,  —  a  tribute  which  in  no  other 
case  was  accorded  to  one  of  her  sex. 

In  1831,  in  connection  with  her  father,  she  estab- 
lished the  Mount  Pleasant  Female  Seminary  at  Sing 
Sing,  in  which,  and  after  its  removal  to  Newburgh, 
several  hundred  young  ladies,  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  were  under  her  immediate  instruction  and 
training. 

She  was  married,  March  31,  1836,  to  Mr.  A.  P. 
Cumings,  one  of  the  editors  and  proprietors  of  the 
"  New  York  Observer,"  who,  after  a  life  of  great  activity 
in  this  and  other  fields  of  usefulness,  especially  in  the 
general  work  of  Christian  benevolence,  died  at  Nice, 
France,  May  13,  1871. 

Mrs.  Cumings  contributed  occasionally  to  the  col- 
umns of  the  "  New  York  Observer "  and  to  other  peri- 
odicals, and  by  urgent  request  she  prepared  two 
volumes  for  the  press,  —  one  the  Memoirs  of  a  mis- 
sionary's daughter  who  had   been   providentially  sent 


MRS.  MARIA  M.   CUMINGS.  73 

to  her  house  to  die ;   the  other,  a  Memorial  of  a  very 
dear  friend.     They  were  published  anonymously. 

The  adopted  child  of  A.  P.  Cumings  and  Maria  M., 
his  wife,  was  Cornelia  Josephine,  who  was  married  to 
Mr.  James  L.  Truslow. 


PUBLICATIONS   OF  MRS.   MARIA  M.    CUMINGS. 

The  Missionary's  Daughter;  or,  Memoir  of  Lucy 
Goodale  Thurston,  of  the  Sandwich  Islands.  "  Why 
"brought  here  to  wither,  but  to  fulfil  some  high  behest 
"of  Heaven  ?"  New  York  :  Dayton  &  Newman.  1842. 
pp.  223. 

Memorial  op  Mrs.  Catharine  Ann  Jermain,  who 
died  April  21,  1873,  wife  of  James  B.  Jermain,  of  Al- 
bany. Inscribed  to  her  children  and  children's  chil- 
dren and  family  friends,  at  the  request  of  her  husband. 
Munsell,  Printer,  Albany. 


ALANSON  JERMAIN  PRIME,  M.D. 

ALANSON  JERMAIN,  eldest  son  of  the  Eev.  Na- 
thaniel S.  Prime,  D.D.,  and  Julia  Ann  Jermain, 
his  wife,  was  born  at  Smithtown,  Long  Island,  March  12, 
1811.  He  pursued  his  preparatory  studies,  under  the 
immediate  instruction  of  his  father,  at  Cambridge,  N.  Y. 
In  1826  he  entered  the  Sophomore  class  at  Williams 
College,  under  the  presidency  of  the  Eev.  Edward 
Dorr  Griffin,  D.D.,  and  was  graduated  with  honor  in 
the  class  of  1829.  Having  the  medical  profession  in 
view,  he  devoted  special  attention  while  in  college  to 
chemistry  and  natural  science  generally.  After  his 
graduation  he  continued  his  scientific  studies  at  the 
Troy  Eensselaer  Institute  (now  the  Polytechnic),  un- 
der the  instruction  of  Professor  Eaton,  then  eminent 
as  a  naturalist.  He  subsequently  delivered  courses  of 
public  lectures,  at  Cambridge  and  other  places,  on  his 
favorite  subjects  of  study.  He  studied  medicine  with 
Dr.  Matthew  Stevenson,  of  Cambridge,  and  at  Sing  Sing 
with  Dr.  Adrian  K  Hoffman,  father  of  ex-Governor 
John  K.  Hoffman.  He  attended  the  courses  of  medi- 
cal lectures  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons 
in  the  city  of  New  York.  Soon  after  he  received  his 
medical  license,  in  1832,  the  Asiatic  cholera  made  its 


76  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

appearance  in  this  country.  The  first  death  at  Quebec 
occurred  on  the  8th  of  June,  1832,  and  the  first  in  the 
city  of  New  York  on  the  2 2d  of  the  same  month. 
Spreading  rapidly  in  all  directions,  but  confined  chiefly 
to  cities  and  places  where  large  masses  of  people  were 
congregated,  it  broke  out  with  great  violence  in  the 
State  Prison  at  Sing  Sing.  Dr.  Prime  was  immedi- 
ately appointed  a  special  physician  for  the  prison ;  and 
although  the  disease  was  regarded,  even  by  many  of  the 
faculty,  as  highly  contagious,  he  took  up  his  residence 
at  once  within  the  walls  of  the  prison,  where  he  re- 
mained for  several  weeks,  day  and  night,  ready  to  attend 
upon  any  one  who  might  be  attacked,  and  to  minister 
to  those  who  were  already  suffering.  Several  hundred 
cases  occurred,  many  prisoners  being  seized  in  their 
cells  suddenly  in  the  night.  About  one  hundred  of 
the  cases  proved  fatal,  but  no  one  suffered  for  want 
of  timely  medical  attendance. 

A  singular  incident,  worthy  of  special  note,  marked 
the  sudden  disappearance  of  the  disease  from  that  lo- 
cality. While  it  was  still  prevailing  in  the  prison,  a 
violent  thunderstorm  broke  over  the  place  early  one 
evening,  and  continued  during  a  great  part  of  the  night. 
Prom  that  time  not  another  new  case  of  cholera  oc- 
curred within  the  prison  walls,  and  it  soon  disappeared. 
In  other  cases  a  similar  result  did  not  attend  the  same 
electrical  phenomena. 

Another  incident,  of  a  personal  nature,  connected 
with  Dr.  Prime's  special  service  in  this  cholera  hospital 
may  here  be  mentioned.  He  was  summoned  one  day 
to  attend  a  prisoner,  a  young  man,  who  had  been 
violently   attacked   with   the  disease.     After  he  had 


ALANSON  JERMAIN  PRIME,  M.D.  77 

examined  the  case  and  had  made  prescription,  the  young 
man  called  him  by  name,  and  added,  "  Doctor,  you  do 
"not  know  me."  Dr.  Prime  replied  that  he  did  not 
recognize  him;  on  which  the  young  man  said,  "We 
"  were  boys  together  at  the  Old  White  Meeting  House 
"  where  your  father  preached."  He  was  proceeding  to 
relate  the  history  of  his  life  and  of  the  way  in  which  he 
had  been  brought  to  the  prison,  and,  as  he  now  feared,  to 
the  gate  of  death,  when  the  Doctor  stopped  him  in  his 
narrative,  directing  him  to  remain  perfectly  quiet,  as 
one  of  the  necessary  conditions  of  his  recovery,  and  to 
tell  him  the  story  when  he  had  more  strength.  He  re- 
covered, and  subsequently  gave  the  Doctor  a  history  of 
his  crime.  He  did  not  serve  out  the  full  term  of  his 
sentence,  but  was  pardoned  on  the  ground  of  his  good 
conduct  while  in  prison,  and  on  the  application  of  his 
former  employers,  who  took  him  back  into  their  service. 

After  practising  medicine  a  short  time  at  Schenec- 
tady, N.Y.,  Dr.  Prime  removed  to  Grand  Haven, 
Mich.,  to  pursue  his  profession;  but  he  was  soon  broken 
down  by  continuous  attacks  of  the  fever  of  the  new 
country,  and  returned  to  the  East.  On  recovering  his 
health  he  took  charge,  as  Principal,  of  the  Academy  at 
Newburgh,  and  subsequently  resumed  practice  for  a  year 
at  Plattekill,  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.  In  1848  he  removed 
to  White  Plains,  N.  Y.,  where  he  continued  in  the  suc- 
cessful practice  of  his  profession  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  April  3,  1864. 

He  married,  Sept.  1,  1836,  Euth,  youngest  daughter 
of  Benjamin  Higbie,  of  Troy,  K  Y.  Their  children  were 
Ralph  Earl,  Mary,  Katharine,  Margaretta,  married  to 
Henry  C.  Bissell,  and  Alanson  Jermain,— all  now  living. 


78  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  ALANSON  J.   PRIME,  M.D. 

Dr.  A.  J.  Prime  commenced  while  very  young,  and 
continued  to  the  close,  to  use  his  pen  both  as  a  prose 
writer  and  as  a  poet,  contributing  largely  to  the  periodi- 
cal Press.  Among  the  papers  which  he  furnished  for 
"  Harper's  Magazine  "  were,  "  Insects  and  Insect  Life ; " 
"  Coincidences ;  "  "  Mary  Eankin  :  A  Physician's  Story ; " 
"  Why  our  Minister  didn  't  Marry  ;  "  "  Paul  Allen's 
Wife,  and  how  He  found  Her; "  "  Fortune-Telling ;  "  "  The 
Sheriff's  Wife."  For  the  "  Christian  Parlor  Magazine  " 
he  furnished  "  Passages  in  the  Life  of  a  Physician ; " 
"  Our  First-born ; "  and  for  the  "  Columbian  Magazine," 
"  Eunice  Mars  ton." 

In  1845,  in  connection  with  Professor  Emmons,  his 
former  instructor  at  Williams  College,  and  State  Geolo- 
gist of  New  York,  he  established  a  Scientific  Magazine 
of  Agriculture,  which  was  continued  through  two  vol- 
umes under  the  following  title :  — 

American  Quarterly  Journal  of  Agriculture  and 
Science.  Edited  by  Dr.  E.  Emmons  and  Dr.  A.  J.  Prime. 
Albany :  Van  Benthuysen  &  Co.     1845. 


SAMUEL  IEENjEUS  PRIME,  D.D. 

SAMUEL  IKEKiEUS,  second  son  of  Eev.  Nathaniel 
S.  Prime,  D.D.,  and  Julia  Ann  Jermain,  his  wife, 
was  born  at  Ballston,  K  Y.,  Nov.  4,  1812.  His  early 
education  was  conducted  by  his  father  at  the  Cambridge 
Washington  Academy.  In  October,  1826,  with  his 
older  brother,  he  entered  the  Sophomore  class  in  Wil- 
liams College,  and  was  graduated  in  1829,  before  he 
had  completed  his  seventeenth  year,  taking  one  of  the 
four  honors  of  the  class,  —  the  Greek  Oration.  He  spent 
three  years  after  his  graduation  in  teaching  at  Cambridge 
and  Sing  Sing,  when  he  entered  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary.  Before  completing  his  first  year  he  had  a 
severe  illness,  by  which  he  was  brought  to  the  borders 
of  the  grave.  His  parents  and  other  members  of  his 
family  were  summoned  to  his  bedside,  not  expecting 
his  recovery,  nor  was  he  able  afterward  to  resume  his 
studies  at  Princeton.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Bedford  in  1833,  and  the  same  year 
took  charge  of  the  Academy  at  Weston,  Conn. 

On  the  15th  of  October,  1833,  he  married  Elizabeth 
Thornton,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Edward  Kemeys,  of  Sing 
Sing.  She  died  Aug.  9, 1834,  a  few  days  after  giving  birth 
to  a  son,  who  was  named  Samuel  Thornton  Kemeys. 


80  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

In  1835  Mr.  Prime  accepted  a  call  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Ballston  Spa,  and  in  June  of  that  year 
was  ordained  and  installed  its  first  pastor.  On  the  17th 
of  August,  1835,  he  married  Eloisa  Lemet,  daughter  of 
Mr.  Moses  Williams,  of  Ballston  Spa.  His  pastorate  at 
this  place  gave  great  promise  of  usefulness ;  but  before 
the  completion  of  a  year  a  serious  bronchial  ailment, 
from  which  he  never  fully  recovered,  developed  itself, 
and  he  was  compelled  to  resign  his  charge  and  resort 
again  to  teaching.  He  became  Principal  of  the  Aca- 
demy at  Newburgh,  N.Y.,  and  after  two  years,  being 
in  a  measure  relieved,  he  returned  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  Accepting  a  call  to  the  Presbyterian  Church 
at  Matteawan,  N.  Y.,  he  was  installed  May  23,  1837. 
He  often  referred  to  his  pastorate  of  three  years  at  this 
place  as  one  of  the  happiest  periods  of  his  life.  It  was 
marked  by  hard  labor,  but  was  attended  with  rich  fruits. 
In  the  spring  of  1840  he  was  compelled  by  the  state 
of  his  health  again  to  give  up  preaching,  when  he  en- 
tered upon  the  chief  work  of  his  life,  accepting  the  edi- 
torship of  the  "  New  York  Observer."  This  he  never 
laid  aside  excepting  during  an  interval  of  a  year  in 
which  he  was  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  American 
Bible  Society,  and  a  few  months  in  which  he  was  con- 
nected with  the  "  Presbyterian."  Never  did  any  one 
find  employment  for  which  he  was  more  admirably 
fitted,  or  in  which  he  achieved  greater  success.  He 
wrote  with  as  much  ease  as  he  talked,  and  with  such 
accuracy  that  his  articles  were  sent  to  the  printer  with 
little,  often  with  no  revision.  The  writer  of  these  notes, 
after  intimate  association  with  his  brother  in  editorial 
work  between  thirty  and  forty  years,  can  truly  say  that 


SAMUEL  IRENJEUS  PRIME,  D.D.  81 

he  never  knew  another  who  wrote  with  equal  celerity, 
precision,  and  force,  and  whom  it  apparently  cost  so 
little  effort.  When  he  had  performed  a  day's  work  in 
the  office  or  in  his  study,  he  was  ready  to  take  up  some 
service  in  behalf  of  one  of  the  numerous  benevolent  en- 
terprises of  the  day  with  which  he  was  identified,  or  to 
sit  down  again  and  write  an  article  for  some  periodical, 
or  prepare  a  portion  of  a  volume  or  a  public  address.  It 
was  in  this  way,  not  as  a  task,  but  as  the  overflow  of 
an  ever  active  and  never  weary  mind  that  he  was  en- 
abled, while  discharging  his  regular  editorial  duties,  to 
prepare  for  the  press  more  than  forty  volumes,  besides 
pamphlets,  addresses,  tracts,  and  scores  of  articles  for 
reviews  and  magazines. 

In  April,  1853,  being  broken  down  in  health,  he 
sailed  for  Europe  to  spend  a  year  in  travel,  should  his 
life  and  strength  be  spared  so  long.  He  was  so  feeble 
when  carried  to  the  ship  that  he  was  laid  almost  help- 
less upon  the  deck.  He  was  revived  by  the  air  of  the 
sea,  and  on  reaching  the  other  shore  was  so  much  in- 
vigorated that  he  entered  at  once  upon  an  extensive 
tour  on  the  continent  of  Europe  and  in  Palestine  and 
Egypt.  He  returned  home  at  the  end  of  a  year  with 
restored  health,  having  lost  scarcely  a  day  by  illness. 
He  made  a  second  visit  to  Europe  in  1866-7,  and  a 
third  in  1876-7.  In  all  his  travels  he  contributed 
weekly  to  the  "  Observer,"  under  his  familiar  signature 
of  "  Iren^eus,"  a  series  of  letters  which  was  never 
intermitted  until  it  was  broken  off  by  his  death. 

The  degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred  on  him  by  Hamp- 
den Sidney  College. 

Soon  after  entering  upon  his  editorial  work,  Dr. 
6 


82  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

Prime  took  up  his  residence  for  a  few  years  in  the  city 
of  Newark,  N.  J.,  where  he  attended  the  Third  Presby- 
terian Church,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Eev. 
Dr.  H.  N.  Brinsmade.  He  took  the  superintendence 
of  the  Sunday-school,  in  which  he  did  the  work  of 
a  pastor,  and  was  also  active  in  promoting  the  general 
work  of  the  church.  He  bore  a  prominent  part  in 
establishing  the  Public  Library  of  Newark,  and  was 
engaged  in  other  local  and  public  enterprises.  He  was 
a  living  as  well  as  life-member  and  director  of  numer- 
ous national,  Christian,  and  philanthropic  societies,  and 
found  leisure  to  devote  to  them  all.  His  time  and  en- 
ergies were  long  and  heartily  given  to  the  Evangelical 
Alliance,  on  which  for  many  years  he  expended  with- 
out compensation  a  vast  amount  of  labor  as  one  of  its 
corresponding-secretaries.  He  was  the  founder  and 
president  of  the  New  York  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science  and  Art,  of  which  (it  is  not  too  much 
to  say)  he  was  the  life  and  soul ;  president  and  trustee 
of  Wells  College ;  a  trustee  of  Williams  College,  etc. 

During  all  the  later  years  of  his  life  Dr.  Prime  had 
his  residence  in  the  city  of  New  York.  In  the  summer 
of  1885  he  left  the  city  to  fulfil  an  engagement  to 
preach  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Ballston  Spa  on 
the  7th  of  June,  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  ordina- 
tion in  that  church.1  On  the  1st  of  July  he  attended 
the   Commencement   of   Williams   College,   and    went 

1  A  memorial-window  representing  the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord, 
a  copy  of  the  design  by  Albert  Diirer  in  his  series  known  as  "The 
"  Great  Passion,"  has  been  placed  by  his  widow  in  this  church  over 
the  pulpit.  The  text  of  the  sermon  preached  on  the  occasion  referred 
to  is  added  as  a  legend :  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall 
"see  God." 


SAMUEL  IREN^EUS  PRIME,  D.D.  83 

thence  to  Manchester,  Vt.,  to  make  arrangements  to 
spend  the  month  of  August  at  that  place  with  his 
family,  and  to  celebrate  with  them  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  his  marriage.  He  was  taken  ill  on  the  way, 
and  immediately  on  reaching  Manchester  summoned 
a  physician.  He  was  soon  after  joined  by  his  wife 
and  other  members  of  the  family.  There  was  nothing 
alarming  in  the  attack,  and  for  several  days  he  con- 
tinued to  improve. 

On  Sunday  morning,  July  12,  as  his  physician,  Dr. 
Hemenway,  was  leaving  the  room  to  attend  public 
worship,  Dr.  Prime  asked  him  to  wait  a  moment,  and 
attempted  to  utter  a  request;  but  his  voice  faltered, 
and  he  said  to  his  brother,  William  C.  Prime,  "  Give 
"  me  the  pencil  and  paper."  He  then  wrote  the  follow- 
ing, which  he  desired  the  doctor  to  hand  to  the  pastor 
at  the  church :  — 

"To  the  Pastor:  A  stranger  in  town,  being  ill, 
"  desires  the  congregation  to  unite  with  him  in  thanks 
"to  God  for  his  goodness  in  partially  restoring  him, 
"and  in  praying  for  complete  recovery." 

And  he  added  (for  the  pastor  alone),  "  No  name  to 
"be  mentioned." 

In  the  course  of  the  day,  at  intervals,  he  engaged  in 
conversation  with  his  wife  and  brother  on  various 
topics  of  religious  interest.  In  the  afternoon  he  sat 
up  for  some  time,  and  at  length,  with  a  firm  step, 
walked  to  the  bed,  and  lying  down,  closed  his  eyes  and 
apparently  fell  asleep.  The  doctor  entered  soon  after, 
and  approaching  the  bedside,  spoke  to  him,  but  received 
no  answer.  He  had  been  stricken  with  paralysis,  and 
never  spoke  again. 


84  THE  PKIME  FAMILY. 

He  lingered  in  this  condition,  suffering  no  pain  and 
giving  no  signs  of  consciousness,  until  Saturday,  the 
18th,  when  he  passed  away  so  quietly  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  tell  at  what  moment  his  spirit  took  its 
flight  to  join  the  company  of  the  redeemed. 

His  funeral  was  attended,  on  the  22d,  at  the  West 
Presbyterian  Church,  New  York  city.  Addresses  were 
made  by  his  pastor,  the  Eev.  Dr.  John  E.  Paxton,  and 
the  Eev.  Dr.  Thomas  S.  Hastings,  and  prayer  was  offered 
by  the  Eev.  Dr.  William  Ormiston.  The  burial  was 
at  Woodlawn  Cemetery. 

So  many  of  the  friends  and  associates  of  Dr.  Prime 
were  absent  from  the  city  and  from  the  country  at  the 
time  of  his  death  that  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  of 
which  he  was  a  conspicuous  member,  resolved  to  hold 
at  a  later  day  a  public  commemorative  meeting.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  5th  of  January  following,  by  invita- 
tion of  the  Alliance,  a  large  assembly  was  gathered  at 
Association  Hall.  William  E.  Dodge,  Esq.,  president 
of  the  United  States  Alliance,  presided,  and  opened  the 
exercises  with  an  appropriate  address.  Prayer  was 
offered  by  the  Eev.  A.  C.  Wedekind,  D.D.,  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  and  a  paper  which  had  been  adopted 
by  the  Council  of  the  British  Evangelical  Alliance, 
expressive  of  their  sorrow  on  hearing  of  the  decease  of 
Dr.  Prime,  was  read  by  the  Eev.  Philip  Schaff,  D.D. 
Eloquent  and  impressive  addresses  were  then  made  by 
the  Eev.  Drs.  Eichard  S.  Storrs  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  Edward  Bright  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and 
James  M.  Buckley  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

His  general  character  and  manner  of  life  are  por- 
trayed in  a  tribute  to  his   memory  by  the   Eev.  Dr. 


SAMUEL  IREN^US  PRIME,  D.D.  85 

T.  W.  Chambers,  of  the  Collegiate  Eeformed  Dutch 
Church,  published  at  the  time  of  his  death,  from  which 
we  make  an  extract :  — 

"  He  was  a  man  of  public  spirit  and  a  constant  friend 
"  of  the  great  religious  and  benevolent  and  educational 
"  institutions  of  the  age.  His  zeal  was  bounded  by  no 
"  narrow  or  sectarian  lines.  Whether  it  were  a  Bible 
"  or  a  Tract  Society,  in  the  interest  of  Home  Missions 
"  or  of  Foreign,  for  a  college  or  a  seminary,  for  the 
"  Evangelical  Alliance  or  that  of  the  Eeformed  Churches, 
"  for  the  advancement  of  literature  or  of  science  or 
"  of  art,  he  was  ready  to  render  such  service  as  lay 
"  in  his  power.  And  his  position  often  enabled  him 
"  to  give  very  efficient  aid  both  by  his  voice  and  his 
"  pen.  His  spirit  was  truly  catholic.  Although  warmly 
"attached  to  the  Evangelical  system  as  held  by  the 
"  church  in  which  he  was  reared  and  in  whose  com- 
"  munion  his  whole  life  was  spent,  he  habitually  cher- 
ished a  hearty  sympathy  with  all  sister  churches. 
"  And  this  feeling  grew  with  his  advancing  years.  He 
"  preferred  to  see  points  of  agreement  rather  than  those 
"  of  difference,  and  longed  for  the  closer  fellowship  of 
"  all  who  { hold  the  Head.'  Hence  when  the  proposal 
"  was  made  to  reunite  the  dissevered  parts  of  the  Pres- 
"  byterian  Church  North,  he  became  at  once  a  zealous 
"  and  a  judicious  advocate  of  the  reunion ;  and  when 
"  the  project  was  consummated,  no  man  rejoiced  more 
"  heartily  than  he.  So  when  fraternal  relations  with 
"  the  Southern  Church  were  restored,  he  was  a  member 
"  of  the  commission  which  met  the  Southern  Assembly 
"  at  Lexington,  Ky.  His  address  on  that  occasion  is 
"  said  by  one  who  was  present  to  have  been  of  great 


86  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

"  power  through  its  tenderness.  '  He  spoke  of  the  past, 
" '  and  conjured  up  its  sacred  memories  so  that  old  men 
"'wept.'" 

Of  his  social  characteristics  Dr.  Chambers  writes  : 
"  Dr.  Prime's  intercourse  with  his  ministerial  brethren 
"  was  always  pleasant  and  helpful.  It  was  a  great  grat- 
"  ification  to  him  when,  cut  off  from  the  possibility  of 
"having  a  pulpit  of  his  own,  he  was  able  to  render 
"  service  on  occasion  to  those  who  required  aid  in  ful- 
"  filling  their  office.  In  advanced  years  the  state  of 
"  his  health  prevented  this  from  being  often  done  ;  but 
"it  rarely  hindered  him  from  attending  the  weekly 
"  gatherings  of  a  clerical  association  in  this  city,  now 
"  more  than  half  a  century  old.  Here  his  presence  was 
"  a  conspicuous  and  most  agreeable  feature.  He  never 
"  seemed  out  of  spirits.  His  good-humor  was  pervading 
"  and  infectious.  His  recollections  of  men  and  things 
"were  so  vivid  and  so  ready,  and  his  knowledge  of 
"  affairs  so  complete  and  accurate,  that  no  subject  was 
"  ever  started  on  which  he  could  not  throw  some  needed 
"light.  His  wit  coruscated,  his  playfulness  was  ex- 
"  uberant,  yet  never  excessive.  In  the  greatest  mirth, 
"  or  in  reciting  the  most  amusing  incident,  he  never 
"  forgot  the  dignity  of  a  Christian  minister." 

The  children  of  the  Eev.  S.  Irenseus  Prime,  D.D., 
and  Eloisa  Lemet  Williams,  his  wife,  were  Wendell, 
Mary  Elizabeth,  married  to  the  Eev.  Charles  A.  Stod- 
dard, D.D.,  Edward  Irenseus,  who  died  Oct.  29,  1849, 
and  Lily. 


SAMUEL  IREN^EUS  PRIME,  D.D.  87 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  REV.  S.  IREN^EUS  PRIME,  D.D. 

To  say  that  Dr.  Prime  was  a  voluminous  writer,  is 
to  give  little  idea  of  the  number  and  variety  of  the 
productions  of  his  pen,  or  of  their  wide  circulation.  In 
addition  to  his  weekly  writings  in  the  "  New  York  Ob- 
server," continued  for  nearly  half  a  century,  and  his 
contributions  to  numerous  other  periodicals,  he  was 
constantly  called  upon  to  prepare  papers  for  religious, 
benevolent,  and  literary  societies  and  objects.  Besides 
volumes  of  sermons  and  other  selections  which  he  edited, 
the  following  list  is  made  up  from  original  volumes 
which  were  written  chiefly  in  the  midst  of  other  arduous 
labors.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  catalogue  the 
numerous  articles  which  he  prepared  for  magazines  and 
reviews.  Several  of  his  volumes  were  reprinted  and 
extensively  circulated  in  foreign  countries.  After  nearly 
twenty  thousand  copies  of  one  of  his  books  on  Prayer 
had  been  published  in  this  country,  it  was  reprinted 
in  England,  where  one  hundred  thousand  copies  were 
sold  by  a  single  publishing  house.  Two  distinct  trans- 
lations of  the  same  book  were  published  in  France ; 
it  was  issued  from  the  press  in  India  in  the  Tamil 
language,  and  in  Dutch  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

Elizabeth  Thornton  :  The  Flower  and  Fruit  of  Early 
Piety.     New  York  :   M.  W.  Dodd.     1840.     pp.  208. 

Records  of  a  Village  Pastor.  Massachusetts  Sab- 
bath-School  Society.     1843.     pp.  228. 

The  Prodigal  Reclaimed  ;  or,  The  Sinner's  Ruin  and 
Recovery.    Mass.  S.  S.  Society.     1843.     pp.  220. 


88  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

The  Martyr  Missionary  of  Erromanga  ;  or,  The  Life 
of  John  Williams.  Abridged.  American  Sunday-School 
Union.     1844.     pp.  270. 

The  Little  Burnt  Girl  :  A  Memoir  of  Catharine  Howell. 
Am.  S.  S.  Union.     1845.     pp.  69. 

George  Somerville  ;  or,  The  Boy  who  would  be  a 
Minister.     Am.  S.  S.  Union.    1846.    pp.  88. 

Guide  to  the  Saviour.  Am.  S.  S.  Union.  1846. 
pp.  96.  (Republished  by  the  London  Religious  Tract 
Society.) 

The  Old  White  Meeting-House  ;  or,  Reminiscences 
of  a  Country  Congregation.  Robert  Carter.  1846.  pp. 
240. 

Life  in  New  York.  Robert  Carter  &  Brothers.  1846. 
pp.  240. 

The  Gospel  among  the  Bechuanas  and  other  Tribes 
of  Southern  Africa.     Am.  S.  S.  Union.     1846.     pp.  296. 

The  Nestorians  of  Persia  ;  with  an  Account  of  the 
Massacres  by  the  Koords.  Am.  S.  S.  Union.  1846.  pp. 
173. 

The  Highland  Pastor  :  a  Sequel  to  George  Somerville. 
pp.  197.     Am.  S.  S.  Union.     1847.     pp.  197. 

Henry  Wood  ;  or,  The  First  Step  in  the  Downward 
Road.     Am.  S.  S.  Union.     1848.     pp.  144. 

Bosses  and  Their  Boys  ;  or,  The  Duties  of  Masters 
and  Apprentices.     Am.  S.  S.  Union.     1853.     pp.  144. 

Sabbath  Songs  :  for  the  Use  of  Families  and  Sunday- 
Schools.     Leavitt  &  Allen.     1853. 

Thoughts  on  the  Death  of  Little  Children  ;  with 
an  Appendix  selected  from  Various  Authors.  Anson  D. 
F.  Randolph.     1865.    pp.  180. 


SAMUEL  IRENJEUS  PRIME,  D.D.  89 

Travels  in  Europe  and  the  East.  With  engravings. 
Two  vols.    12mo,  pp.  405,  444.    Harper  &  Brothers.    1855. 

Letters  from  Switzerland.  Sheldon  &  Co.  1860. 
pp.  264. 

The  Power  of  Prayer  Illustrated  in  the  Fulton-Street 
Pra3"er  Meetings  and  Elsewhere.  Charles  Scribner :  New 
York.  1858.  The  same,  enlarged  edition,  Scribner,  Arm- 
strong &  Co.  1873.  pp.  418.  The  same,  republished 
in  London ;  in  Paris,  in  French,  1859  ;  in  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  in  Dutch ;  in  East  Indies,  in  Tamil. 

The  Bible  in  the  Levant  ;  or,  The  Life  and  Letters 
of  the  Rev.  C.  N.  Righter,  agent  of  the  American  Bible 
Society  in  the  Levant.  New  York :  Sheldon  &  Co.  1859. 
pp.  336. 

Five  Years  of  Prayer,  with  the  Answers.  Harper 
&  Brothers.     1864.     pp.  395. 

Fifteen  Years  of  Prayer  in  the  Fulton-Street  Meet- 
ing.    Scribner,  Armstrong  &  Co.     1872.     pp.  345. 

American  Wit  and  Humor.  Harper  &  Brothers.  1859. 
pp.  206. 

Anderson's  Annals  of  the  English  Bible.  Abridged 
and  continued.  Robert  Carter  &  Brothers.  1849.  pp. 
545. 

Memoirs  of  Rev.  Nicholas  Murray,  D.D.  (Kirwan). 
Harper  &  Brothers.     1862.     pp.  438. 

Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Joanna  Bethune.  By  her  Son,  Rev. 
George  W.  Bethune,  D.D.  With  an  Appendix  containing 
Extracts  from  her  Writings.  Selected  and  edited  by  S.  I.  P. 
Harper  &  Brothers.     1863.     pp.  250. 

Walking  with  God  :  The  Life  Hid  with  Christ.  A. 
D.  F.  Randolph  &  Co.  1872.  Republished  in  London, 
1872. 


90  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

The  Alhambra  and  the  Kremlin:  The  South  and 
the  North  of  Europe  contrasted.  A.  D.  F.  Randolph  & 
Co.     1873.     pp.  482. 

Under  the  Trees.  Harper  &  Brothers.  1874.  pp. 
313. 

Songs  of  the  Soul  Gathered  out  of  Many  Lands  and 
Ages.     Robert  Carter  &  Brothers.    1874.     4to.     pp.  661. 

History  of  the  Sixth  General  Conference  of  the 
Evangelical  Alliance.  Harper  &  Brothers.  1874.  pp. 
773. 

Life  of  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  LL.D.,  Inventor  of  the  Electric 
Magnetic  Recording  Telegraph.  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  8vo. 
pp.  776. 

Iren^eus  Letters  :  Originally  published  in  the  "  New 
York  Observer."  Published  by  the  "  New  York  Observer." 
Series  I.,  1880  ;  pp.  400.  Series  II.,  1885,  with  a  sketch 
of  the  life  of  Rev.  S.  Irenaeus  Prime,  D.D.,  pp.  388. 

Prayer  and  its  Answer,  Illustrated  in  the  Twenty-five 
Years  of  the  Fulton-Street  Prayer-Meeting.  Charles  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons.     1882.     pp.  171. 

Among  his  public  addresses,  which  were  separately 
published,  are,  "  Address  at  the  Opening  of  the  Newark 
Library  Building,  Feb.  21,  1848;"  "  Presby-terianism  in 
the  United  States  of  America,"  read  at  the  Presbyterian 
General  Council,  Edinburgh,  July,  1877;  "The  Church 
of  Rome,"  a  speech  in  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly, 
Saratoga,  May  26,  1879  ;  "  Address  on  the  Erection  of 
the  Franklin  Statue,  Printing-House  Square,  New  York, 
Jan.  17,  1872  ; "  "  Address  before  the  British  Organization 
of  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  Bath,  England,  October, 
1866  ;  "  etc.,  etc. 


REV.  EDWARD  D.  G.  PRIME,  D.D. 

[This  Sketch  was  prepared  by  William  C.  Prime,  LL.D.] 

EDWAED  DOEE  GEIFFIN,  third  son  of  the  Eev. 
Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  D.D.,  and  Julia  Ann  Jermain, 
his  wife,  was  born  at  Cambridge,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  2, 1814.  In 
common  with  his  older  brothers,  he  received  his  prepara- 
tory education  at  the  Washington  Academy  in  his  native 
town,  under  the  immediate  instruction  of  his  father. 
He  entered  Union  College  during  the  presidency  of  the 
Eev.  Eliphalet  Nott,  D.D.,  who  was  then  in  his  full 
vigor  and  celebrity  as  an  educator.  He  was  graduated 
in  1832,  in  his  eighteenth  year,  taking  one  of  the 
honors  of  his  class,  —  the  Latin  oration.  The  Asiatic 
cholera  making  its  appearance  in  this  country  in  June 
of  that  year,  the  College  was  almost  entirely  disbanded, 
but  the  Commencement  exercises  were  held  in  the  midst 
of  the  pestilence. 

After  his  graduation  he  spent  three  years  in  teaching, 
as  an  assistant  to  his  father,  in  the  Mount  Pleasant 
Academy.  He  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  under 
Dr.  Adrian  K.  Hoffman,  then  surgeon  of  the  State 
Prison  at  Sing  Sing;  but  in  the  autumn  of  1835  he 
decided  to  devote  his  life  to  the  Christian  ministry,  and 
entered  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton.     After 


92  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

a  three  years'  course  at  this  institution  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  the  class  of  1838,  and  was  licensed  to  preach, 
May  16th  of  that  year,  by  the  Presbytery  of  North 
Eiver.  In  December  he  was  called  to  become  an 
assistant  to  the  Eev.  Methuselah  Baldwin,  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotchtown,  Orange  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  was  ordained  collegiate  pastor  June  12, 1839. 
On  the  death  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  Feb.  27,  1847,  he  became 
sole  pastor.  On  the  26th  of  September,  1839,  he  mar- 
ried Maria  Darlington,  daughter  of  John  S.  Wilson,  of 
Princeton,  N.  J.  In  the  autumn  of  1849,  while  he  was 
on  his  way  to  fulfil  an  appointment  of  Presbytery  in 
a  distant  church,  he  was  attacked  a  second  time  with 
hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  but  after  a  brief  period  of  rest 
he  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  pastorate. 
In  November,  1850,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  he  went 
to  New  Orleans  to  spend  the  winter,  for  the  benefit  of 
his  health.  On  arriving  there  he  accepted  an  invita- 
tion to  supply  the  pulpit  of  the  Lafayette  Square 
Presbyterian  Church  for  six  months,  during  the  ab- 
sence of  the  pastor,  the  Eev.  William  A.  Scott,  D.D., 
who  was  then  travelling  in  Palestine  and  Egypt.  The 
following  May  he  left  New  Orleans  to  attend  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  at  St.  Louis 
as  a  commissioner  from  the  Presbytery  of  Hudson. 
While  he  was  on  the  Mississippi  the  cholera  made  its 
appearance  on  the  steamer,  and  several  deaths  occurred. 
Mrs.  Prime  was  suddenly  attacked,  and  within  twenty- 
four  hours  from  the  appearance  of  the  first  symptoms 
the  disease  had  passed  through  all  its  stages.  She  died 
on  the  steamer  "  Iowa,"  May  13,  1851. 

The  following  winter  Mr.  Prime,  still  suffering  from 


REV.  EDWARD  D.  G.  PRIME,  D.D.  93 

the  effects  of  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  resigned  his  pas- 
toral charge  and  went  to  Augusta,  Ga.  On  returning  to 
the  North  in  May,  he  took  charge  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Eighty-sixth  Street,  New  York,  for  a  year. 
In  April,  1853,  to  enable  his  brother  Irenseus  to  recruit 
his  health  by  foreign  travel,  he  took  his  place  as  editor 
of  the  "  New  York  Observer,"  with  which  paper  he  had 
corresponded  for  many  years  under  the  signature  of 
"  Eusebius."  After  the  return  of  his  brother  they  were 
associated  in  editorial  labor  until  the  death  of  Irenseus, 
in  1885.  He  spent  the  winter  of  1854-55,  in  Eome, 
officiating  as  chaplain  of  the  American  Embassy,  under 
the  appointment  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Chris- 
tian Union.  The  following  summer  he  travelled  ex- 
tensively in  Europe,  returning  to  New  York  in  October, 
and  resuming  his  duties  on  the  "  Observer." 

In  1857  he  received  the  degree  of  D.D.  from  Jefferson 
College,  Pennsylvania.  On  the  14th  of  June,  1860,  he 
married  Abbie  Davis,  daughter  of  the  Eev.  William 
Goodell,  D.D.,  of  Constantinople.  In  1869,  being  again 
broken  down  in  health,  and  under  the  necessity  of  seek- 
ing complete  relaxation  from  care  and  labor,  he  left 
home  with  Mrs.  Prime  on  a  journey  around  the  world. 
Crossing  the  American  continent  by  the  Pacific  Eailroad, 
then  just  opened,  he  visited  California,  and  on  the  7th 
of  September  sailed  from  San  Francisco  for  Japan  and 
China.  He  spent  the  following  winter  in  India,  and  in 
1870  returned  to  New  York  by  way  of  Egypt,  Palestine, 
and  Europe,  having  made  the  circuit  of  the  globe.  One 
special  object  that  he  had  in  view  in  selecting  this 
extended  route  of  travel,  was  to  study  in  person 
the  religious  condition  of  those  remote  countries,  and 


94  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

especially  to  note  the  progress  of  the  work  of  Christian 
missions  in  the  East.  While  absent,  he  corresponded 
regularly  with  the  "  New  York  Observer."  On  his 
return  he  published  a  volume  containing  an  account 
of  his  travels  and  observations,  which  passed  through 
several  editions.  He  also  preached  and  lectured  on 
the  missionary  aspects  of  his  journey  in  many  of  the 
churches  of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  other  cities, 
presenting  a  hopeful  view  of  the  great  work  of  Chris- 
tianizing the  nations. 

In  common  with  his  editorial  associates  and  others 
connected  with  the  "  New  York  Observer,"  he  narrowly 
escaped  death  in  the  disastrous  fire  by  which  the  "  Ob- 
server "  building,  with  its  contents,  was  destroyed,  and 
in  which  three  of  the  compositors  perished.  Hearing 
the  alarm  of  fire,  he  sprang  to  the  door  of  his  room,  on 
the  third  story  of  the  building,  but  turned  back  for  an 
instant  to  secure  some  valuable  papers.  The  whole 
interior  was  at  once  in  flames  ;  and  no  other  way  being 
open,  he  stepped  out  of  the  window,  and  walking  along 
the  edges  of  the  signs,  reached  a  window  in  the  adjoin- 
ing building,  and  in  this  way  made  his  escape. 

On  the  death  of  his  brother  Irenseus,  in  1885,  he 
became  editor-in-chief  of  the  "  Observer,"  the  duties  of 
which  position  he  continued  to  perform  until  the  fol- 
lowing year,  when,  owing  to  repeated  attacks  of  illness, 
he  was  compelled  to  resign  the  responsibilities  and 
labors  of  the  office. 


REV.  EDWARD  D.  G.  PRIME,  D.D.  95 


PUBLICATIONS   OF  REV.   E.  D.  G.  PRIME,  D.D. 

Besides  contributing  largely  to  several  volumes  which 
were  issued  without  his  name,  Dr.  Prime  published  the 
following :  — 

Around  the  World  :  Sketches  of  Travel  Through 
Many  Lands  and  Over  Many  Seas.  With  numerous  Il- 
lustrations. Harper  &  Brothers.  1872.  Crown  8vo. 
pp.  455. 

Forty  Years  in  the  Turkish  Empire  ;  or,  Memoirs  op 
Rev.  William  Goodell,  D.D.,  Late  Missionary  of  the 
A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  at  Constantinople.  Robert  Carter  & 
Brothers.     1876.     Crown  8vo.     pp.  489. 

(Calvinism  and  Missions)  An  Address  before  the  Synod 
of  New  York,  Oct.  19,  1852.  Foreign  Missionary, 
Januaiy,  1853. 

Civil  and  Religious  Liberty  in  Turkey.  Presbyterian 
Quarterly  and  Princeton  Review,  October,  1875. 

Notes,  Genealogical,  Biographical,  and  Biblio- 
graphical, of  the  Prime  Family.  8vo.  1888.  Printed 
for  Private  Use.     pp.  118. 


MRS.  CORNELIA  P.   STEVENSON. 

CORNELIA,  second  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
S.  Prime,  D.D.,  and  Julia  Ann  Jermain,  his  wife, 
was  born  at  Cambridge,  N.Y.,  Nov.  29,  1816.  Edu- 
cated under  her  father  and  her  elder  sister,  she  spent 
several  years  in  teaching,  as  an  assistant  in  the  institu- 
tion of  which  they  had  charge,  the  Mount  Pleasant 
Eemale  Seminary.  On  the  18th  of  May,  1841,  she  was 
married  to  the  Rev.  Paul  Eugene  Stevenson,  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Staunton,  Va.,  and  removed 
immediately  to  that  place.  In  1844  her  husband  was 
called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
at  Williamsburg,  N.  Y.  (now  the  eastern  division  of 
Brooklyn),  where  they  remained  until  1849.  In  that 
year  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Wyoming,  Pa.,  and  at  the  same  time  took  charge  of  the 
Luzerne  Presbyterian  Institute.  He  was  Principal  suc- 
cessively of  classical  schools  in  Bridgeton  and  Madison, 
N.  J.  In  1866  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stevenson  founded,  in  the 
city  of  Paterson,  N.  J.,  the  Passaic  Falls  Institute  for 
Young  Ladies,  in  which  he  remained  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  March  17,  1870,  after  which  Mrs. 
Stevenson  presided  over  the  institution  for  several 
years. 

7 


98  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

Their  children  were  Julia  Johnson  (died  March  5, 
1854),  James  Prime  (died  Nov.  21,  1860),  Archibald 
Alexander  (died  Feb.  10,  1870),  Preston,  Eugene,  Mary 
Margaretta,  and  Edward  Irenseus. 

Mrs.  Stevenson  has  sustained  the  literary  reputation 
of  the  family  by  her  contributions  to  the  periodical 
Press,  among  which  was  a  series  of  articles  published 
in  the  "  New  York  Observer,"  under  the  title  of  "  The 
Almond  Tree  ;  or,  Conversations  on  the  Twelfth  Chap- 
ter of  Ecclesiastes :  1874." 


GERRIT  WENDELL  PRIME. 

GEEEIT  WENDELL,  fourth  son  of  the  Eev.  Na- 
thaniel S.  Prime,  D.D.,  and  Julia  Ann  Jermain 
his  wife,  was  born  at  Cambridge,  N.  Y.,  July  13,  1819. 
He  received  his  early  education  at  the  same  institutions 
with  his  brothers,  and  entered  the  Sophomore  class  in 
Union  College  in  1835.  During  his  college  course  he 
suffered  much  from  ill  health,  but  maintained  a  high 
stand  in  his  class.  At  the  close  of  the  winter  session 
in  his  Junior  year  he  left  college  to  spend  the  vacation 
at  home,  taking  the  steamer  at  Albany  for  New  York. 
The  river  was  just  breaking  up,  and  the  boat  becoming 
imbedded  in  the  ice,  young  Prime,  together  with  several 
of  his  college  mates  who  were  on  board,  with  great  ef- 
fort and  difficulty  made  his  way  to  the  shore  on  the 
loose  cakes  of  ice,  and  walked  several  miles  to  the  city 
of  Hudson.  On  reaching  the  hotel  he  was  at  once  pros- 
trated with  a  fever  which  had  begun  to  develop  itself 
before  he  left  college.  It  soon  assumed  a  typhoid  form ; 
and  although  attended  by  skilful  physicians  and  having 
the  watchful  care  of  his  parents  and  other  members  of 
his  family,  he  sank  under  the  disease,  and  died  April  12, 
1837,  in  his  eighteenth  year.     He  was  a  youth  of  pecu- 


100  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

liarly  lovely  disposition,  of  much  literary  promise,  and 
a  sincere,  humble  Christian,  whose  great  purpose,  with 
the  Gospel  ministry  in  view,  was  to  prepare  himself  for 
usefulness  and  to  spend  his  life  in  the  service  of  his 
Divine  Master. 


WILLIAM   C.   PRIME,   LL.D. 

WILLIAM   COWPEK,  youngest  son  of  the  Eev. 
Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  D.D.,  and  Julia  Ann  Jer- 
main,  his  wife,  was  born  at  Cambridge,  N.Y.,  Oct.  31, 
1825.     He  received  his  early  education  under  the  in- 
struction of  his  father,  and  entered  the  Sophomore  class 
in  the  College  of  New  Jersey  (Princeton)  in  1840.     He 
was  graduated  in  1843,  and  by  appointment  delivered  a 
poem  at  the  Commencement.     Upon  leaving  college  he 
began  the  study  of  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  of 
the  city  of  New  York  in  1846.     He  continued  to  prac- 
tise in  the  city  until  the  year  1861,  when  he  became  one 
of  the  owners  and  managers  of  the  "  New  York  Jour- 
nal of  Commerce,"  in  which  he  has  continued  until  the 
present  time,  having  been  editor-in-chief  from  1861  to 
1869.     During  the  years  1855-56,  he  travelled  in  Eu- 
rope and  the  East,  spending  most  of  the  time  in  Egypt 
and  Palestine.     Upon  his  return  he  published  two  vol- 
umes, "  Boat-Life  in  Egypt  and  Nubia,"  and  "  Tent-Life 
in  the  Holy  Land,"  which  have  had  great  popularity  as 
sketches  of  travel  and  observations  on  scenes  and  peo- 
ples.    His  visit  to  those  lands  was  repeated  in  the  years 
1869-70.     In  both  journeys  he  was  accompanied  by 
his  wife,  Mary  Trumbull,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Gurdon 
Trumbull,  of  Stonington,  Conn.,  whom  he  married  May 
1,  1851. 


102  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

Early  in  his  professional  life  Mr.  Prime  adopted  the 
opinion  that  every  man  should  have  some  special  occu- 
pation, apart  from  his  ordinary  business  in  life,  by 
which  he  might  at  times  completely  divert  his  mind 
from  responsible  and  exacting  labor.  He  commenced 
when  very  young  the  collection  of  works  of  art  in  va- 
rious departments,  among  which  for  a  time  he  allowed 
numismatics  to  occupy  his  attention.  The  die-cutter's 
art  led  him  to  the  study  of  engraving  ;  and  while  pur- 
suing this  subject  as  a  historical  study,  he  was  directed 
to  a  particular  department,  to  which  he  has  devoted 
himself  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  —  the  his- 
tory of  the  illustration  of  thought  by  pictures,  as  dis- 
tinct from  the  history  of  engraving  or  of  painting,  in 
being  confined  to  the  relations  between  written  lan- 
guage and  picture-language.  His  library,  in  its  accu- 
mulations for  many  years,  has  been  specially  devoted 
to  this  subject,  and  is  rich  in  early  illustrated  books 
and  in  collections  of  the  woodcuts  of  artists,  known 
and  unknown,  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 
His  publications  on  this  subject  have  been  only  in 
periodicals. 

His  wife,  a  lady  of  rare  attainments  in  literature  and 
art,  entered  with  enthusiasm  into  his  favorite  pursuits, 
devoting  herself  more  especially  to  the  history  of  pottery 
and  porcelain.  The  result  was  the  accumulation  of  the 
most  complete  private  collection,  illustrating  the  history 
of  the  art  of  pottery,  hitherto  made  in  America.  This 
collection  will  find  a  permanent  place  of  usefulness  in 
the  Art  Department  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  at 
Princeton,  to  which  Mr.  Prime  has  presented  it  as  a 
memorial  of  his  wife,  who  died  April  3,  1872. 


WILLIAM  C.  PRIME,  LL.D.  103 

The  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  was  founded  in  the 
city  of  New  York  in  1870,  during  the  absence  of  Mr. 
Prime  in  Europe.  Immediately  upon  his  return  he 
took  an  active  interest  in  the  infant  institution,  the 
history  of  which  is  the  history  of  the  devotion  of  a  few 
private  citizens  to  the  instruction  and  elevation  of  the 
popular  mind,  by  promoting  an  intelligent  study  of  the 
history  of  ancient  and  modern  art  in  all  departments, 
and  also  by  encouraging  a  successful  practice  of  the 
finer  arts  as  a  pursuit  in  life.  For  many  years  all  the 
responsible  labor  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  was  vol- 
untarily performed  by  the  trustees  in  person.  Down 
to  the  present  time  Mr.  Prime  has  devoted  a  large  part 
of  his  time  to  the  interests  of  this  Museum  ;  and  now, 
in  common  with  his  co-trustees,  has  the  satisfaction  of 
witnessing  its  present  magnitude  and  usefulness,  as  well 
as  great  popularity.  He  was  elected  first  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  Museum  in  1874,  and  has  been  annually  re- 
elected down  to  the  present  time.  Schools  have  been 
established  in  connection  with  the  Museum,  in  which 
thorough  instruction  in  the  arts  is  given  at  a  trifling 
expense  to  the  pupils. 

Having  devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of  art  his- 
tory, Mr.  Prime  became  impressed  with  the  importance 
of  introducing  in  schools  and  colleges  a  systematic 
course  of  instruction  in  this  department  of  the  history 
of  mankind  in  all  countries  and  ages.  In  large  meas- 
ure through  his  exertions,  the  Trustees  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  were  induced  to  establish  at  Princeton 
such  a  department,  and  Mr.  Prime  presented  to  the 
College  his  extensive  and  costly  ceramic  collections,  on 
condition  that  a  fire-proof  building,  for  these  and  other 


104  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

art  collections,  should  be  erected,  —  a  condition  which 
is  about  to  be  fulfilled.  The  venerable  President,  Dr. 
McCosh,  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  matter,  and 
through  his  laborious  advocacy  the  means  have  been  fur- 
nished, and  the  building  is  now  in  process  of  erection. 

In  the  mean  time  the  department  has  been  organized ; 
and  without  consulting  him,  the  Trustees  of  the  College 
in  1884  elected  Mr.  Prime  to  the  Chair  of  Professor  of 
the  History  of  Art.  Without  accepting  any  responsi- 
bility as  a  member  of  the  Faculty,  he  has  for  some 
years  delivered  lectures  from  this  Chair. 

Princeton  College  conferred  the  degree  of  LL.D.  on 
Mr.  Prime  in  1875.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  his 
graduation  at  this  institution  presented  an  instance, 
then  rare  in  this  country,  of  a  young  man  receiving  his 
degree  of  A.B.  from  the  college  at  which  his  father  and 
grandfather  had  received  it.  Benjamin  Y.  Prime  was 
graduated  in  1751,  Nathaniel  S.  Prime  in  1804,  and 
William  C.  Prime  in  1843.  Two  great-great-grandsons 
of  the  first  (who  was  a  graduate  of  Yale),  both  bearing 
the  family  name,  are  now  enrolled  among  the  under- 
graduates at  Princeton. 


PUBLICATIONS   OF  WILLIAM  C.   PRIME,   LL.D. 

Mr.  Prime  has  been  an  extensive  contributor  to  the 
periodical  literature  of  the  country  in  magazines  and 
reviews.  In  1846  he  commenced  a  correspondence  in 
the  "  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce,"  using  the  signa- 
ture WL,  which  became  familiar  to  the  readers  of  that 
paper.     This  series  has  been  continued  for  more  than 


WILLIAM  C.  PRIME,   LL.D.  105 

forty  years,  and  is  doubtless  without  a  parallel  in  this 
respect  in  the  daily  Press.  Nor  is  it  probable  that 
there  is  any  parallel  in  the  weekly  Press,  excepting  in 
the  celebrated  letters  of  his  brother  Iken^eus  in  the 
"  New  York  Observer." 

The  Owl  Creek  Letters  and  Other  Correspondence. 
By  (OT,     Baker  &  Scribner.     1848.     pp.  208. 

The  Old  House  by  the  River.  Harper  &  Brothers. 
1853.     pp.  318. 

Later  Years.     Harper  &  Brothers.     1854.     pp.  353. 

Boat  Life  in  Egypt  and  Nubia.     Harper  &  Brothers. 

1857.     pp.  498. 

Tent  Life  in  the  Holy  Land.  Harper  &  Brothers. 
1857.     pp.  498. 

Coins,  Medals,  and  Seals,  Ancient  and  Modern; 
Illustrated  and  Described :  With  a  Sketch  of  the  History 
of  Coins  and  Coinage  ;  Instructions  for  Young  Collectors  ; 
Tables  of  Comparative  Rarity ;  Price-List  of  English  and 
American  Coins,  Medals,  and  Tokens,  etc.  [Edited  by 
W.  C.  Prime.]  Harper  &  Brothers.  1861.  pp.  292. 
4to. 

0  Mother  Dear,  Jerusalem.  The  Old  Hymn,  its 
Origin  and  Genealogy.  Anson  D.  F.  Randolph.  1865. 
pp.  112.     12mo. 

Same  in  4to,  illustrated. 

Introduction  to  Gautier's  Romance  of  the  Mummy. 
Bradburn.     1863. 

1  go  a  Fishing  :     Harper  &  Brothers.     1873.    pp.  365. 

Holy  Cross  :  A  History  of  the  Invention,  Preservation, 
and  Disappearance  of  the  Wood  known  as  The  True 
Cross:   Anson  D.  F.  Randolph  &  Co.     1877.     pp.  143. 


106  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

Pottery  and  Porcelain  op  all  Times  and  Nation,  • 
with  Tables  of  Factory  and  Artists'  Marks :  foi  "he  U  e 
of  Collectors.     Harper  &  Brothers.     1878.    pp.531 

'!  J886.  "  litenuy  executor  of  General  George  B 
McClellan,  Dr.  Prime  edited  "McClellan's  0wn  SL  " 
and  wrote  for  that  volume  a  biographical  sketch  of  ^ 
distinguished  soldier  and  statesman. 


JAMES  B.   AND  JOHN  P.  JERMAIN. 

THE  family  record  of  the  Eev.  Nathaniel  S.  Prime, 
D.D.,  would  not  be  complete  without  the  names 
of  James  Barclay  and  John  Pierson,  sons  of  Syl- 
vanus  P.  Jermain,  of  Albany,  eldest  brother  of  Mrs. 
Prime.  Their  mother  having  died  in  their  early  child- 
hood, they  were  received  into  the  family  of  Dr.  Prime, 
in  which  they  were  reared  and  educated.  John  P. 
Jermain,  the  younger,  was  a  warm-hearted,  generous 
youth,  with  a  brilliant  mind  and  high  aspirations.  He 
early  developed  a  taste  for  literary  pursuits,  and  on 
arriving  at  manhood  established  the  "  Albany  Literary 
Gazette,"  of  which  he  was  editor  and  manager.  But 
his  career  was  short.  He  died  at  Albany,  March  10, 
1835,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three. 

James  B.  Jermain  was  graduated  at  Amherst  College 
in  1831.  He  studied  law,  and  commenced  practice  at 
Newburgh,  K  Y.  Nov.  17,  1842,  he  married  Catharine 
Ann  Bice,  of  Cambridge.  After  a  few  years  he  re- 
moved to  Albany  to  assist  his  father  in  the  man- 
agement of  his  large  estate,  which  he  inherited  on  the 
death  of  his  father  in  1869.  From  that  time  he  has 
devoted  his  life,  not  to  the  accumulation  of  property, 
but  largely  to  the  employment  of  his  ample  means  in 


108  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

works  of  Christian  benevolence.  In  the  year  1873  he 
erected  at  Watervliet,  N.  Y.,  near  his  country  resi- 
dence, entirely  at  his  own  charges,  and  at  a  cost  of  over 
$120,000,  a  church  edifice  as  a  memorial  of  his  father, 
and  of  his  own  beloved  wife  who  died  April  21,  1873. 
This  church  he  presented  to  the  Presbytery  of  Albany, 
and  at  the  same  time  guaranteed  to  that  body  a  fund 
of  $50,000  to  be  invested  for  its  maintenance. 

Chiefly  at  his  own  expense,  in  1877  he  erected  "  The 
Home  for  Aged  Men "  near  the  city  of  Albany.  To 
this  institution,  besides  contributing  largely  to  its  cur- 
rent expenses,  he  has  devoted  much  personal  care  and 
attention,  seeking  to  have  it  made  a  real  home  to  those 
who,  by  reason  of  age  and  the  loss  of  property  and  of 
friends,  have  no  other. 

His  only  son,  Barclay  Jermain,  a  young  man  of  great 
promise,  a  graduate  of  Williams  College  and  a  member 
of  the  Albany  Bar,  died  July  7,  1882.  The  following 
year  Mr.  Jermain,  by  the  gift  of  $50,000,  founded  in 
his  memory  the  Barclay  Jermain  Professorship  of 
Moral  Philosophy  in  Williams  College,  to  be  filled  by 
the  President  of  the  College. 

During  the  past  year  Mr.  Jermain  has  erected,  upon 
lots  provided  by  the  citizens  of  Albany,  a  building  for 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  that  city, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  substantial  and  thoroughly 
equipped  buildings  for  Association  work  in  this  coun- 
try. Seeking  advice  of  those  having  experience  in  this 
department  of  Christian  labor,  he  has  given  his  atten- 
tion to  the  details  of  construction,  and  has  spared  no 
expense  in  making  it  a  model  building  for  this  purpose. 
It  was  dedicated,  with  appropriate  exercises,  Sept.  22, 


JAMES  B.  AND  JOHN  P.  JERMAIN.  109 

1887,  and  presented  to  the  Association  free  of  debt. 
The  entire  cost  of  construction,  which  was  wholly 
assumed  by  Mr.  Jermain,  amounted  to  more  than 
$80,000. 

In  adding  this  sketch  to  the  records  of  the  family  of 
Dr.  Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  it  is  proper  to  say  that  Mr. 
Jermain  was  regarded  and  treated  as  a  child  in  his 
family,  and  that  he  has  ever  cherished  toward  his  foster- 
parents  the  veneration  and  affection  of  a  son.  He  at- 
tributes the  formation  of  his  character  and  his  aims  to 
be  useful  in  the  world,  and  especially  his  efforts  to  be 
found  faithful  as  a  Christian  steward,  to  the  principles 
instilled  into  his  mind  under  the  parental  care  and 
training  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Prime. 


PRIME  FAMILY  LIBRARY. 

ONE  object  which  the  writer  of  these  Notes  had  in 
view  in  preparing  the  volume  was  to  set  in  order, 
in  a  form  for  preservation,  a  complete  bibliographical 
record  of  the  family  to  which  it  is  devoted.  The  liter- 
ary history  of  the  American  branch  has  been  largely 
given  in  the  biographical  sketches  which  precede  this 
chapter ;  the  putting  together  of  their  literary  labors 
has  been  done  in  another  and  a  more  tangible  form. 

Some  years  ago  the  Eev.  Dr.  S.  Irenseus  Prime,  who 
had  contributed  most  voluminously  to  the  catalogue  of 
their  published  works,  conceived  the  idea  of  making  up 
a  family  library,  to  be  composed  exclusively  of  volumes 
written  by  those  bearing  the  name  of  Prime.  He  was 
joined  in  the  undertaking  by  his  brothers,  who  furnished 
not  only  their  own  works,  but  such  other  volumes  appro- 
priate to  the  collection  as  they  had  gathered  from 
various  sources  at  home  and  abroad.  It  was  their 
purpose,  if  possible,  to  make  the  collection  absolutely 
complete,  and  to  hand  it  down  as  an  heirloom  in  the 
family,  to  be  enlarged  by  succeeding  generations  of 
writers. 

It  might  seem  to  many  an  easy  task  to  gather  to- 
gether the  publications  of  a  single  branch  of  a  single 


112  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

family,  even  though  extending  through  two  centuries 
and  many  generations.  But  any  one  who  has  noted 
how  soon  a  book  may  drop  out  of  the  current  of  human 
thought,  and  how  often,  within  a  score  of  years  or  less, 
one  that  has  been  widely  read  ceases  to  be  treasured 
and  apparently  passes  out  of  existence,  so  that  a  single 
copy  cannot  be  found,  will  not  regard  the  recovery  from 
oblivion  of  all  the  books  and  pamphlets  that  have  been 
named  in  these  Notes  a  small  undertaking. 

As  a  single  instance :  in  the  catalogue  of  the  pub- 
lications of  Benjamin  Y.  Prime,  M.D.,  given  in  the 
sketch  of  his  life,  mention  is  made  of  a  Latin  treatise 
which  he  wrote  while  at  the  University  of  Leyden,  and 
which  was  the  basis  of  the  medical  honors  he  received 
at  that  university.  The  work  was  published  at  Leyden, 
and  he  doubtless  brought  copies  with  him  to  this 
country  on  his  return  in  1764.  But  when  the  collect- 
ing of  the  volumes  written  by  the  family  was  under- 
taken, not  a  single  copy  of  this  book  was  to  be  found. 
It  was  supposed  to  have  perished,  with  the  main  part 
of  Dr.  Prime's  medical  library,  in  the  Eevolutionary 
War.  The  several  family  collections  and  family  garrets 
were  searched  in  vain  ;  no  such  book  was  to  be  found. 
At  length  a  friend  who  was  watching  the  market  for 
rare  books,  and  who  saw  in  a  London  catalogue  one 
having  the  name  of  "  Benjaminus  Young  Prime,  A.M., 
"  Nov.-Eboracensis  Americanus "  on  the  titlepage, 
bought  it  and  sent  it  to  the  family.  It  was  the  desired 
volume,  and  a  choice  copy,  in  large  quarto,  expensively 
bound  in  full  calf. 

One  volume  only  was  now  wanting  to  make  the 
collection  by  American  authors  complete.     It  was  one 


PRIME  FAMILY  LIBRARY.  113 

of  the  earlier  publications  of  the  Eev.  Ebenezer  Prime, 
printed  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  Its  re- 
covery, after  so  long  a  time  had  elapsed  since  it  came 
from  the  press,  seemed  almost  hopeless,  and  was  at  length 
abandoned.  But  Dr.  S.  I.  Prime,  hearing  that  a  copy 
was  in  the  possession  of  a  literary  gentleman  in  New 
England,  himself  an  enthusiastic  collector  of  old  Ameri- 
can books,  wrote  to  him,  offering  in  exchange  other 
books  equally  valuable,  and  even  more  so  to  a  collector 
who  would  not  feel  a  special  interest  in  its  possession 
on  account  of  the  family  name.  In  pressing  this  plea 
he  stated  that  he  had  been  unable  to  obtain  the  book 
from  any  other  source,  and  incautiously  admitted  that, 
so  far  as  he  knew,  there  was  not  another  copy  in  the 
country,  if  there  was  one  in  existence,  and  that  of 
course  it  was  essential  to  the  completion  of  the  Prime 
collection.  On  this  admission  out  spoke  the  spirit  of 
the  genuine  antiquarian.  He  replied  that  if  this  was 
the  only  copy  extant,  neither  love  nor  money  would 
tempt  him  to  part  with  it.  Not  long  after,  an  explora- 
tion of  the  family  archives  revealed,  in  a  mass  of  hidden 
treasures  of  the  same  sort,  a  copy  of  the  long-looked-for 
volume,  as  good  as  new,  though  nearly  a  century  and  a 
half  old. 

The  library  now  contains  a  copy  of  every  book  and 
important  pamphlet  known  to  have  emanated  from  any 
member  of  the  family  since  the  settlement  of  the  coun- 
try. Some  of  these  were  published  anonymously,  and 
their  authorship  was  never  known  to  the  public,  though 
the  record  of  their  origin  had  been  preserved  in  family 
manuscripts. 

But  this  bibliographical  record  extends  still  farther 

8 


114  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

into  the  past  than  is  indicated  by  the  previous  Notes. 
Among  the  volumes  which  compose  the  collection  are 
two  that  date  back  to  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
They  are  in  English,  printed  in  black-letter,  one  of 
them  among  the  finest  specimens  of  this  early  style 
of  printing  the  language  that  can  be  found  at  the 
present  day.  It  confirms  the  remark  often  made,  that 
there  is  no  art  in  which  so  little  improvement  has 
been  made  as  in  printing,  either  in  the  cutting  of  mov- 
able type  or  in  the  press-work.  It  is  an  art  that  had 
no  infancy,  no  age  of  rudeness ;  it  seems  to  have  been 
born  perfect. 

The  volumes  referred  to  were  written  by  the  Eev. 
John  Prime,  of  Oxford  University,  a  friend  of  Sir 
Francis  Walsingham  the  astute  Foreign  Secretary  and 
favorite  ambassador  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  In  the  year 
1586  the  City  Council  of  Oxford  established  a  double 
lectureship  in  connection  with  St.  Martin's  Church, 
which  was  known  as  the  Corporation  Church.  By  an 
order  of  the  Council  the  Mayor  and  Corporation  were 
required,  under  pains  and  penalties,  to  assemble,  on  the 
ringing  of  a  bell  at  an  appointed  hour,  and  proceed  in 
a  body  to  this  church  to  attend  upon  this  lecture  every 
Lord's  Day  morning.  This  lectureship,  which  has  been 
continued  by  municipal  authority  and  patronage  to  the 
present  day,  more  than  three  hundred  years,  was  es- 
tablished by  the  Council  "to  further  the  spread  of 
"  Protestant  doctrine  and  to  hinder  Eomanism."  Two 
incumbents  were  appointed  to  preach  on  alternate 
Sundays.  One  of  the  first  appointed  to  the  position 
was  the  Eev.  John  Prime,  who  is  spoken  of  as  "  a 
"  zealous  Calvinist,"  and  who  retained   the   office  for 


PRIME  FAMILY  LIBRARY.  115 

many  years.     One  volume  in  the  collection  of  which 
we  are  writing  is  :  — 

A  fhort  Treatise  of  the  Sacraments  generally,  &  in 
fpeciall  of  Baptifme  &  of  the  Supper.  Written  by  Iohn 
Prime,  fellowe  of  Newe  Colledge  in  Oxforde.  1  Cor.  10. 15. 
1  Jpeak  as  unto  them  which  haue  vnderjianding  ;  judge 
ye  what  I  fay.  Imprinted  at  London  by  Chriftopher 
Barker,  Printer  to  the  Qeenes  moft  Excellent  Maiestie, 
Anno  Dom.  1582. 

Another  volume,  published  five  years  later,  in  black- 
letter,  but  much  inferior  in  typographical  execution,  is : 

An  Expofition  &  Observations  Vpon  Saint  Pavl  to  the 
Galatians  debated  &  Motiues  remoued,  by  Iohn  Prime. 
At  Oxford,  Printed  by  Joseph  Barnes,  &  are  to  be  fold 
in  Pavls  Church-yard,  at  the  fign  of  the  Tygershead, 
Anno  1587. 

These  volumes  are  strictly  Evangelical  in  doctrine 
and  spirit,  and  are  rich  in  Scriptural  instruction.  The 
Commentary  is  worthy  of  republication  at  the  present 
time.  Its  antique  quaintness  of  style  gives  a  peculiar 
charm  to  its  spiritual  teachings.  We  quote  the  open- 
ing sentences  of  the  Dedicatory  Epistle  of  the  Treatise 
on  the  Sacraments,  which  is  addressed  to  Sir  Francis 
Walsingham,  as  altogether  appropriate  to  this  chapter 
of  Bibliographical  Notes. 

"  The  Endeleffe  making  of  Bookes  was  a  vanitye  in 
"  the  days  of  Salomon,  when  printing  was  not.  The 
"  end  of  all  is  the  feare  of  God.  Certainly  men  may 
"  not  make  it  a  light  matter  in  confscience  to  trouble 
"  the  worlde  with  vnprofitable  writinges.    Yet  as  in  the 


116  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

"  fhew-bread  that  was  shewed  to  the  people  as  a  figure 
"  of  Christ,  the  olde  loaues  hauing  serued  to  their  ufe 
11  were  remoued,  &  other  fupplied  in  their  roome,  yet 
"ftill  breade  in  nature  &  twelve  loaues  in  nomber; 
"  fo  those  writings  that  figure  out  Chrift  &  set  foorth 
"  chrifstian  duetye  may  be  oftentimes  treated  of,  & 
"  eftsoones  repeated  &  added  to  other  mens  doinges 
"  notwithftanding  no  great  variety  in  the  matter  or 
"  maner  of  handling,"  etc. 

The  Eev.  John  Prime  was  the  author  of  three  other 
publications,  the  titles  to  which  are  given  below.  The 
last  was  printed  exactly  three  hundred  years  ago. 
They  are  the  only  volumes  or  pamphlets  known  to 
have  been  written  by  any  one  bearing  the  name  of 
Prime  that  are  not  found  in  this  collection. 

A  Fruitfull  Discourse,  in  2  Books :  the  one  of  Nature, 
the  other  of  Grace.  Lond. :  Tho.  Vautrollier.  1583. 
12mo. 

Sermon,  Comparing  King  Solomon  &  Queen  Elizabeth. 
Oxford,  1585. 

The  Consolations  of  David  briefly  applied  to  Queen 
Elizabeth.     Oxford:  Barnes.     1588.     12mo. 

A  volume  of  a  later  date,  to  be  found  in  the  collec- 
tion, is  an  autobiography  of  George  Pryme,  Professor 
of  Political  Economy  in  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
England,  and  Member  of  Parliament  for  the  borough, 
who  was  born  in  1781.  The  family  was  Huguenot, 
and  the  descendants  cherished  the  memory  and  records 
of  their  parentage  with  enthusiastic  ardor.  Professor 
Pryme  in  his  Pteminiscences  mentions  one  of  his  ances- 


PRIME  FAMILY  LIBRARY.  117 

tors,  a  clergyman  who  had  the  antiquarian  spirit  to  an 
intense  degree.  He  wrote  of  himself:  "My  zeal  for 
"  old  MSS.,  antiquities,  and  monuments  almost  eats  me 
"  up.  I  am  at  very  great  charges  in  carrying  on  my 
"study,  in  employing  persons  at  London,  Oxford,  etc." 

One  book  alone  remains  to  be  mentioned,  as  having 
a  place  in  this  family  library  not  only  because  it  is  the 
Book  of  books,  but  on  account  of  its  associations.  It 
is  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament  in  Greek,  edited  by 
Professor  John  Leusden,  and  printed  at  Amsterdam  in 
1740.  It  was  the  handbook  of  the  Be  v.  Ebenezer 
Prime,  the  pastor  at  Huntington,  Long  Island,  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  century ;  it  was  in  use  after  his  death 
by  his  son  Benjamin  Y.  Prime,  M.D.,  until  his  death  in 
1791 ;  it  was  the  text-book  in  college,  and  during  his 
long  life  and  ministry,  of  his  son,  the  Ptev.  Nathaniel  S. 
Prime,  D.D.,  and  afterwards  of  his  son,  the  Eev.  S.  Ire- 
nseus  Prime,  D.D.,  from  whom  it  descended  to  his  son, 
the  Eev.  Wendell  Prime,  D.D.,  who  is  now  the  possessor 
of  the  library.  It  has  thus  been  the  manual,  in  the 
study  of  the  Word  of  God  in  the  original  Greek,  of  five 
generations  bearing  the  name.  It  has  been  three  times 
bound. 

There  is  one  feature  of  this  library  to  which  we  refer 
with  peculiar  satisfaction.  Although  it  contains  all 
the  permanent  publications  of  the  family,  there  is  not 
a  single  page  in  all  the  books  which  we  would  wish  to 
efface.  We  believe  that  every  one  has  been  written 
with  a  sense  of  responsibility  for  the  proper  use  of  the 
intellectual  powers  and  acquisitions  of  the  respective 
authors,  and  with  a  conscientious  desire  to  set  forth  the 
glory  of  God  and  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  man- 


118  THE  PRIME  FAMILY. 

kind.  The  library  is  handed  down  to  the  coming 
generations  of  those  who  may  bear  the  name,  with  the 
injunction  that  they  preserve  this  feature  unmarred; 
that  the  leaves  of  the  books  that  shall  in  future  years 
be  placed  upon  its  shelves  —  like  the  leaves  of  the 
Tree  of  Life  in  the  Book  of  Eevelation  —  may  be  "  for 
"  the  healing  of  the  nations." 


University  Press :  John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


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